When a Dream is Done
by Erebos Brando
Summary: Where do we go when we reach the top of the world? To who do we turn when all there are, are those we have forsaken? Who do we fight when there's no-one left to defeat? What do we do when our dreams are done? When this is his life, what can Ash do?
1. Victory's Bitter Aftertaste

Author's Notes: Given that the animé just seems to go on, and on, and on, and on, I skipped to the end we were all waiting for, for Ash to gain the title he'd set out for. Being me I thought, I couldn't leave it there. So I gave the matter some thought and this one-shot is the result.

What if Ash had not met up with anyone upon arriving in Unova, but had simply been left on his own, left to pursue his dream, and obsession, even at a cost? What if he had finally reached that dream? What would happen after that day had finally come?

Here's my answer to that question. This is intended as a one-shot, but I could continue it if you want. I wanna see how public reception goes first.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I'd have brought Misty back into the main cast by now if I did. Brock came back for Christ's sake (only to leave...again...and return...then leave again), and he's far less influential on the plot than Misty was if you ask me.

Then again, I doubt I could have make Pokémon into the multi-million (or billion, I don't keep track of the numbers) franchise it is today. Maybe that's a good thing.

Update: November 2012

Font change meanings:

"Text with speech marls": Character speaking.

"_Italic Text with speech marks"_: Character thinking.

_Italic Text_: Translated Pokéspeak. Also used for emphasis.

"_Italic text with speech marks and underlined text"_: Flashback speech (expect in an actual flashback).

**Bold text**: Intended for use as an emphasis tool (particulate in character thoughts). Might possibly be used otherwise but I very much doubt it. Will post a warning in a later chapter if I use it another way.

There might possibly be the rare (and brief) occasion where the rules are not strictly followed (or something may be done which meaning isn't listed here), the context of the scene this is done in should explain that easily enough.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had all come down to this moment. From that day when he'd left his house in his pyjamas, eager to begin his journey. This was where everything was leading to. Every trainer, every gym leader, every single battle, every single moment, every single second was for this moment, this battle.

Ash and Cynthia stared one another down, each of them matching their Pokémon in their heavy breathing. Sweat beat down both their faces, both of them betraying the sheer strain they had to keep up with, but neither even close to being overwhelmed by it. Both of them were too focused on this battle, too determined to win, both of them concentrating on their Pokémon.

Pikachu, Ash's first, most loyal, his strongest Pokémon, and most trusted friend.

Garchomp, Cynthia's strongest, favourite, and seldom-defeated weapon.

Both had been lost in an explosion above the ground of the arena, but only for an instant as one figure fell out of it, and one was shooting right up, almost instantly baring down on its foe, opening its mouth to bare its vicious fangs.

Ash's teeth gritted so hard together they almost cracked, before his mouth howled an order with such passion his jaw was close to breaking. "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Pikachu put its hands and legs together, and shot down like a cannonball, aiming at the currently floored Garchomp.

The undefeated Garchomp did indeed make an effort to escape, but prolonged exposure to Pikachu's will to win had worn it down, and not only a little. From the first strike this battle had been an all-out war, the arena that housed this entire battle had been rendered unrecognisable from what it was when the two trainers had started, and now the last destruction of the land sounded out in an explosion as the furry missile slammed into Garchomp's chest. When the smoke finally cleared a satisfied Pikachu was walking away from the now unconscious Garchomp, a little worse for wear, but clearly able to go another couple of rounds if by some miracle his opponent managed to wake up.

That miracle would never come. "Garchomp is unable to battle! Ash Ketchum is the winner!"

Pikachu had run, jumping into his best friends arms as both of them laughed, too shocked to fully process the depths of their victory, but still mentally aware enough to process that they had won a battle. Both of them had been too busy celebrating between themselves when all of a sudden the voice of Charles Goodshow covered the entire stadium, freezing Ash and Pikachu in the brief moment until his announcement was finished.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Grandmaster Championship, the new Pokémon Grandmaster, Ash Ketchum!"

Ash and Pikachu had been overcome in that moment, each of them raising a fist into the sky and roaring out to the world. Their years of effort, hardship, wins and loses, the countless hours of training and preparation that culminated in this single moment, this single cry of victory. They had finally reached their dream.

They were now _the greatest in the world_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That had been days ago, days which had passed in a rushed haze of cameras, interviews, hordes of fangirls and there was a ceremony wrapped up in there somewhere. In all truth the young mind of the Pokémon Grandmaster had found itself plagued, plagued by something he'd dare not speak, for what it would mean...

His footsteps were the only vocal company he kept at this moment, one never more than a second behind another. He'd been like this since he could get away from the championship, after the media had finished devouring his story, for now, before proceeding to pass the waste that the world-wide audience would soon consume for themselves. They'd be back for more. He was a piece of meat in a Sharpedo lake now, and his new found title was bleeding like crazy. He'd have less than a week or so to himself most likely. He had made no concious decision as to a destination, he simply went wherever his feet would carry him. He recalled getting on a boat back to Kanto, and the time spent in his cabin alone (save for the company of an equally silent, and plagued Pikachu), leaving only when necessary, and for the final time when the boat had finally docked.

Since then he had merely kept walking, and he would not stop until long into the night, but before they both walked to the end of the path to their final destination, Pikachu saw fit to break the silence, to admit the thing that had plagued both of their minds.

"Pika pi?" _What now?_

Ash didn't stop, but his pace slowed. He'd understood his friends words perfectly, it was hard not to spent all this time together and _not_ be able to understand the rodent that occupied his shoulder. "I don't know, buddy. I really don't."

"Chu pika pika chu pika?" _You don't want to battle anymore?_

"No. It's just we've beaten the best. There's no one else strong enough left for us, Pikachu. I know we've dreamed of this for years, but now we're here..." He suddenly stopped, looking to the sky. Letting one thought loose before continuing to walk. "What does a trainer do when there's no one left who can face him?"

And there it was, the plague that had worked its way into Ash's mind. He had spent six years of his life working towards this dream, and now he had it. He was left with nothing left to do, nowhere left for him to go. He had reached the highest point, on some never he had never realized that this is what being on top _meant_. It was not something that he could take to well, right now anyway.

"_Kachu pi."_ _I know._ His tone suddenly lightened. "Pika pika pickau pi! Chu pika chu pika pi!" _There's always __next year! We'll have to defend your title then!_

Ask smiled. "Our title. Pikachu, you earned it at least as much as I did." Though both had no clear path in front of them, there was at least something, in the distance that these wanderers could grasp onto. Both had been wandering and battling for so long that having reached their goal had been more than just a mere shock, it had been shattering to them. Since leaving Sinnoh, and arriving in Unova. Both had wandered on their own, along with whoever Ash carried in the rest of his Pokémon team at a given time. Two years, two long years they had wandered, fought, trained, and six months ago they had been invited to the Grandmaster Championship. The tournament for the absolute elite, that even the various elite four groups and regional champions entered for the title of Pokémon Grandmaster, the strongest in the _world_. Six months passed by in moments to them as they trained for it. Six months of brutal, painstaking preparation and just a few days ago all the work of Ash and his Pokémon had paid them off, in the absolute highest amount. They had won it all, but perhaps, lost more.

Only days ago Ash had been on a euphoria rush so strong it didn't look like anything could have brought him down, even through the uncertainty that was on his mind even then. That was days ago, and this was now. He had finally discovered where his feet were taking him. And they had taken that euphoria rush and dunked Ash head first into a cruel thing known as reality.

The bright colors, the gigantic Dewgong on the front, and the smell of water that somehow was woven into the air. Ash had come to the Cerulean city gym. Two years ago he'd have just gone right in, not a care in the world. Two years was a very long time, and a very long time to make mistakes. Two years was a long time for a lot of things...

Ash, for only a moment, considered just going in anyway, to hell with everything, but a conscience was a hard thing to silence, and when the fault was only your own, it was damn near impossible. He turned around, walking once more, this time knowing full well where he was going.

Away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had started as such a typical day. Misty had gotten up, gotten dressed and prepared, undergone various morning routines (wake the Pokémon, morning laps, address any documents that required her attention), then her gym was opened to challengers. Three had come in so far, three had left, utterly thrashed by the youngest of the sensational sisters. Long gone were the days which _this_ gym handed out badges. If you wanted a badge then you better prepared yourself for one hell of a fight. Misty was not known to pull her punches, or tell her Pokémon to pull theirs. She had just started her lunch break, about to go into the town to find a place to eat at when she saw something that shocked her to the essence of her being.

Right there, right on the path that connected her Gym to the rest of the city was _him_. She had to blink several times just to be sure but there was no doubt about it. Even if she hadn't seen his accomplishment on TV, she still would have been able to recognize him, even thought he'd changed since the last time they stood face to face. The two years had taken to him well, giving him extra high, a more masculine physique and more defined facial features. Yet there was no mistaking the sixteen year old boy before her from Ask Ketchum, especially with the trademark Pikachu on his shoulder. No doubt it was Ash, that dense, stubborn and wonderful boy who had pretty much whisked her away on the adventures of a lifetime. Her first instinct was to rush outside, and punch/hug/cripple/kiss senseless her former best friend, but then the 'former' term really made itself known, and she was glued to the spot. She waited for Ash to make a move, if he would ever make one. For a brief instant it looked like he was moving forward, before he blinked and turned away, walking away from the Gym step by step. Some part of her couldn't help but think this was the last time she was going to see him.

"Ash..."

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Ash had moved much faster after that. Some would call it desperation to reach a place, but Pikachu knew that it was Ash trying to _get away_ from another place. He'd wandered most of the night, only stopping for a brief nap spanning several hours in the night, just to get up and keep going without another word.

No-one could describe Ash's life in the last couple years better than Pikachu, not even half, or even a tenth as well. He'd kept quiet, caring far too much for his best friend's dream (and in a way his own, he'd wanted to be the best as well.). He'd kept quiet, but watched as the isolation had slowly changed Ash. He had not become cold, far from it. He had been the perfect trainer as always, but while his skills in dealing with Pokémon had not diminished in the least, he had forgotten how to deal with _people_. Ash still helped people, yes, but when it came to actually forming any kinds of meaningful relationships with them...all hopes of that had pretty much gone after a year. His friend has simply forgotten how to make human friends. Now Pikachu was cursing himself for not doing _something_ to stop what he saw going on in front of him. Well there was a phrasing those humans used, 'better late than never'.

"Pi pi pikachu ka, Pikapi" _You should have gone in there, Ash._

"And say what, exactly? 'Hey Misty. Really, really long time no see, yeah, sorry about that, how are you?'"

Pikachu shook his head in annoyance. "Pika chupi pika chupi. Pikachu pika kachu pika, Pikapi. Pikachu pika chu, ka pikachu chu pika pikachu chu pika chu kachu pika." _Sorry would be a good start. People don't change that much in two years, Ash. She'd be angry, but she'd forgive you if you said sorry._

Ash gave a bitter laugh. "Have you met her? We're talking about the girl who used to beat me with a mallet over the littlest things. She'd **kill** me over this."

"Pi pikachu." _You're wrong._

"Yeah." He sighed. "For just about everything I did. I..." He suddenly looked down, trying to hide, in vain what his eyes were currently screaming out to the world. "I let her...I let them all go. Oh Arceus, all of them. I even stopped contacting Mom..."

"Pikachu, Pikapi." _I'm sorry, Ash._

"Wh-What do you have to be sorry for?"

"Kachu pika pi, ka. Pika pika pi kachu. Pikachu pikapi pika, pi kachupi pika pi chu." _I saw this happening, slowly. But I didn't do anything. I wanted you to reach your dream, but I should have stopped you._

"You know that pretty much nothing was going to stop me."

"Pi. Pikachu pika. Pikachu pi pi ka chu pi." _No. But I could have tried. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad if I did._

"Don't beat yourself up, Pikachu. You're not the one who's ruined his social and family life beyond repair."

"Ka chu pika pi chu. Pi pika chu, pika pika chu pikachu ku chu pika." _It's not beyond repair. Even you know that, though you're too busy complaining to realize it._

"I'm not wrong, Pikachu."

Pikachu gave a sly grin. "Pikachu. Kachu pika. Pikachu kachu pi." _Fine then. Be stubborn. But look to your right._

He did. "Oh Arceus..." He turned his body fully, finally realizing exactly where he'd ended up. This wasn't his intended destination, but clearly his feet would not be obeying his instructions any time soon. Ash had come...home.

Pikachu patted his best friend encouragingly. "Pikachu pikachi pika. Pikachu kachu. Pi pika pikachu pika." _You know you can still come back here. Now go knock that door. Your Mom must miss you._

"But I-"

"Pi. Kachu ka. Chu." _Go. To that door. Now._

Ash took a heavy step, half expecting something to go horribly wrong when he did, like something was going to pounce out at him if he did, even though it was the middle of the day and he could see nothing trying to hide. He slowly reached the front door, but just stood there, looking at it, his mind running through what could be on the other side. Would his Mother want to see him? Would she even remember him? What if...he gulped, he'd been replaced? Guilt and fear kept him in place, so much that it took a gentle shock just to get him to stop looking like a statue.

"Pikachu ka!" _Just knock already!_

Ash gulped, reaching up a shaking hand to the pidgy-shaped knocker. He took a few second before pulling it up, and slamming it down. He did this three times in quick succession.

He jumped when he heard a "coming!" from inside, forcing down another lump in his throat. He barely had time to think of what to do before the door was opened.

His mother had exited the door almost as he remembered her, but though she seemed to be trying to hide it, he could see the bags under her eyes, and did her hair look a little...faded? He wasn't so dense that he couldn't trace the cause of his mother's jaded appearance, and he was seized with a fresh wave of guilt. He'd wanted to say so much, but he only found himself able to utter two coherent words.

"Uhh...Hi Mom..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well that had been...something. If someone had gone back in time and asked him what he expected his mother to do when he showed up at her door, the foremost guess would have been a slap, or two, or more. The other guesses too closely tied and wild to even put forward as guesses. He didn't have great expectations though...

He'd have never expected his suddenly sobbing mother to start hugging him, her speech unintelligible between the uses of "My baby's home!' and "so proud of you!".Though that might have had something to do with him saying "I'm sorry" every other couple of seconds. As much as he'd thrown himself into his dream, the boy still missed his Mother, though he'd been too blind to see it. He'd been too blind, to many things. That's how things were for close to quarter of an hour between them, before both of them finally managed to calm down enough to separate. They'd parted to see a smiling (though teary-eyed) Pikachu looking back up at them, which had gotten the little rodent pulled into a hug and a fresh bout of sobbing from his mother, who proceeded to pull her son in again.

_That_ part he was still processing. But if nothing else, he thought with a sigh, it was good to be home, and he was on the path to making it up to his Mom.

After the most emotional reunion of his life it had been a home-cooked meal, delivered by the greatest cook that ever walked the earth. His mother had pulled out all the stops. Every single one of his favourite dishes growing up had been laid out before him, and neither he or Pikachu wasted time in consuming what was before them. Both during and after the meal Delia had bugged Ash for every detail of his life she had missed. _Every_ detail. He was never going to outgrow being embarrassed about being pestered by his mother about changing his underwear, _ever_. They'd sat a that dinner table for hours, daylight passing into sunset, the sunset being replaced by a full moon in the night sky. Ash had waited until very late to say goodnight, promising as much time as his Mother wanted tomorrow.

But he was not going to bed just yet. On the contrary, he was planning to stay up for quite a while. Currently he sat quite alone, Pikachu having gone to pursue his own interest. He likely wouldn't be seen until morning. Ash sat in a chair, legs placed on the pane of an open window as he stared out at the field in front of his house. He'd travelled the world over, but never had he found a place quite like his little home of Pallet. Now, this moment was his, and his alone. Despite being without human contact for the longest time, being truly alone was not a luxury Ash had often got, and he had something he had to do tonight with this time.

He reached into his bag and pulled something out. He smirked to himself for even having this. He'd passed through a town in Unova on his way to the championship with more..._lax_ laws when it came to alcohol and minors. Sixteen was an acceptable age to buy alcohol in that town, and since the championship was just around the corner, why not give himself something to look forward to upon his victory? People got drunk when they celebrated, or so he'd heard. He'd brought the idea to Pikachu's attention but the rodent wanted no part of it, unless they were drinking ketchup instead. Ash had laughed at that, promising to buy Pikachu a hundred bottles of ketchup if they won. The rodent was on bottle eight when he'd left him, Pikachu had decided to enjoy his spoils alone, having no desire to _"__Watch you get shitfaced__",_ if his translation was right. He hadn't been wrong yet.

He'd wondered where Pikachu had picked up that kind of language, but decided it wasn't worth looking into.

He'd never bothered to check the name of the alcohol, or even it's strength. He'd just asked for 'the best you got' and he'd been given a very large bottle of some gold liquid. It looked pleasant enough. This bottle was either to celebrate his victory, or comfort him if he lost (though he'd never admit that part, even to himself). Tonight he was doing a bit of both. He'd come home to a mess he'd created, and for that he needed comfort, but he'd already made peace with his Mom, that alone was worth celebrating over, and at this moment, far more so than a measly little world tournament. He had much pain left to soothe however, so he uncorked the bottle and took a sip. _"Not bad."_

He sat in that position, drinking for another half an hour before the strength of the beverage began talking a toll on his mind. He'd travelled enough to see people in bars giving into depression as a result of drinking. He'd always dismissed them, focusing on something else but now he knew, those people had some real problems.

Coming home had made everything so much more real, though in his singular ambition to become the Pokémon Grandmaster everything else had become so unreal it was if his past life was but a dream, or perhaps he had merely descended into one and was only now awake. The reality he had woken up to was not welcoming him with welcome arms.

He remembered, he remembered the details that his conquest to become master had drowned out, but now that history rose from the depths of his memory to seize him by the throat and drag him down, and drag him down _hard_. He sat there, quite powerless as a set of related memories demanded and seized his attention. A list of memories he was going to face.

The last time he had talked to his friends, and each was a distinct entry in his diary of screw-ups. Each one had been a different time.

Gary. Ash almost snorted in laughter. It was hard to believe that that arrogant asshole had become his friend, but indeed he had, once their rivalry had finally been put to rest it had happened, though neither would claim they were particularity close. Despite being the least valued among his list, Gary had been the last talked to in some way. It had been in Unova. Ash had quite literally found Gary at random. Just over a year ago, there Gary was, looking into some dig sight that had some interesting fossils in it. They had almost missed one another, in fact, _they_ had. Pikachu had been the one to bring attention the presence of his former rival. Ash had turned, his shock spilling out the name of his rival before he could stop himself. By this time Ash had long since been used to walking on his own, and thought he'd never had even thought of it then, he was getting used to the loneliness his dedication to his dream was hiding from him. It had been an, well he not say awkward reunion, but it not been a joyous one either. They had simply _met again_. A bit of teasing which did not hide very well the fact that Ash had ceased talking to his friends at that point (the closest Gary was capable of trying to do something nice for his former rival). Some small talk about topics that only one of them really cared about in each topic. This culminated in a brief battle, for old times sake. With a quick grin, Ash remembered the absolute evisceration he'd handed his old rival. Ash had a feeling Gary had never spoken of their meeting. His face muscles sagged heavily when that feeling was looking to be correct. This meant that for just over a year at least, no one had known where he was or what he was doing, until he'd shown up at the Championship. He may have owed Gary a kick to his privates for not even _mentioning_ running into him, but if he owed Gary one, he owed himself hell of a lot more, and in a lot more places, with a lot more force.

Tracey. Two months into his trip around Unova he'd found and pictured quite a beautiful Pokémon oasis. He'd emailed the photo to his friend minutes after taking the picture, receiving a thanks and admiration over the picture minutes later. It ended on a nice note, suddenly though, but it was not in the least drug out. Still, hardly a worthy ending for someone who had travelled with him.

May and Dawn. He smiled at this one, because even now, despite...everything, he was so _proud_ of them both. He had watched them battle, head-to-head, in the greatest contest battles he had ever seen and one of the best battles he'd ever seen, period. They had fought to a draw, but when you fought a battle like that, that alone was victorious. He'd seen them both off on their boat, leaving far faster than he should have. Likely the case was they tried to wave to him on the boat, only to find he'd long since gone. Likely they took that as an offence, because that was the last he'd saw or heard of them. He knew now that a mere email could to patched up this wound, two little words would have done it, would have _then_ anyway.

Max. He had been one of the longer ones he'd kept in contact with, because due to the fact that Max was currently too young to on a journey of his own was quite alone himself. His main source of company had been a certain Ralts, who had somehow found Max's house and made itself at home. Despite not being allowed to go on a journey yet, Max was learning to battle under his father's guidance, taking many techniques from a certain Pokémon Grandmaster and applying them in his own style. Max and Ralts were going to make one hell of an impact on Hoenn when they set out on their own. Max had made it a point to constantly pester him for battle tips, and recent battles Ash had fought in. He'd also kept Ash up to date on May's life long after they'd lost touch, until eventually even they ceased talking. This happened around the time Ash had suffered a defeat, a bad one, and dug himself one foot deeper into the grave he was in now and severely increased his training. His last conversation with Max had been a video call, a late at night call with the two were only half awake for, and had very little to say. It was awkward.

Brock. Oh dammit, _Brock_. Ash took a heavy gulp. Just _how_ in hell had that happened? One moment it had been going well, Brock had been taking a small vacation and decided to catch up with Ash by coming to Unova. They'd sat down for a meal (curtsey of Brock's second-only-to-one cooking skills). Things had started fine, even good. Ash recalled hiding laughter as Brock expressed his 'endless sorrow' over the pretty classmates of his studies into Pokémon medicine, and how they had denied his persistent flirting before suddenly the topic changed. For the life of him Ash could not remember exactly how Brock had worded it, but he could be pretty sure Brock had put it in a polite way. All Brock had done was point out that Ash wasn't keeping very consistent contact with his friends, and even his mother. Ash couldn't remember exactly how it'd happened, but things had come to a shouting match, before long ending with Ash throwing his plate to the ground and walking off. He had not contacted Brock at all since that day, and unless Arceus felt like recreating the universe in a state where he had not screwed up that unbelievably badly, he didn't think he was ever going to.

Misty. He downed a mouthful, and another after that when his body gave an involuntary heave, fighting to release the beast of despair he himself had fed, trained and armed. The truth was he couldn't quite place when it'd happened. That was the absolute worst part. His first true (human) friend, his best friend, and he couldn't even be sure exactly when it'd all gone wrong exactly. He shot down another mouthful. He knew it had ended in emails. Random, little things before one day there was only silence. When that day was, was lost to him. He downed another mouthful. The pursuit of his dream had indeed bore fruit, the ultimate return for his investments. But there was a difference between what he was willingly putting in, and what he had done without realizing so. Somewhere along the line Ash had paid up far more than he intended, and he wanted it all back.

He suddenly rose from his chair, trying to fight back the sudden feeling of loss that was ripping himl apart. He tore open the door to his closet, where he knew that some semblance of his past was, where the good times still held some physical fragment of themselves. He grabbed the first box he could find, pulling out the garments that had seen him through Sinnoh. That yellow-striped dark blue jacket, and that hat. Memories of Sinnoh, all of them rushed upon him at once. He leaned back, letting some of them hold still in his mind for just the moment. Meeting Dawn, her Cheering for him, Paul, the second asshole rival. He placed the clothing back, before finding a second box and raiding it for a second set of clothing.

Soon the clothing that had seen him through Hoenn was in his hands. The jacket, so much like his original one in its way. The had had been the biggest change, it'd been weeks before he was used to seeing that thing in the mirror. He remembered meeting May, and Max, and when Brock came back. The battle frontier, and conquering it completely. The unfortunate incidents of possession that had overcome both him and Pikachu. Eventually this group joined the rest, they had separated. He closed the box.

There was one more. The most important. The one that had brought him, Brock and...Misty together. He dived into the closet, reaching around every considerable area. He needed to find _it_, where the original was. Where the garments he had started out in were. The first symbol of Ash Ketchum. Five minutes passed before one thing became clear. His first trainer cap, and his first jacket were _gone_.

"_But where?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty looked down at the coat and hat in her hands, a gift from Delia Ketchum given during Ash's travels in Sinnoh. She kept them in the box she had received them with, the box they had originally been placed in when Delia had gotten them from her son. Brock had gotten to go back, full time to the adventure that was Ash Ketchum's life. She had only a brief instant of that again, and the wiser-than-she-let-on mother of her former best friend had one day given her a box, with instructions to open it next time she really missed Ash.

She'd gotten less than half a mile from the Ketchum household when she'd torn the lid off, finding something which both hurt and soothed her heart. A little piece of the something he had lost, had retreated to an outer corner of her life, before eventually...he had simple gone completely. She had slept with both items of clothing that night, with them somehow having maintained some of his scent, before her consistent snuggling had robbed that away.

She felt herself tearing up again, but she would not stop herself, she never did. Her tears showered the cap he'd "sent in about a million postcards" to claim for himself, with some more sinking into the coat.

And even though it pained her, she knew she would be sleeping with them tonight too. Living with the truth was one thing, a cruel, merciless and horrible thing to live with, but letting it go, letting _him_ go. It was unthinkable, even now. She pulled both items close, trying desperately to find some trace of the scent she knew her longing had washed away long ago. "Ash...why..."

A question she had asked so many times before, a question to which she had yet to be given reply. A question, she knew she would never have an answer for.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hours had passed, and with each one Ash's thoughts had flashed through various stages. The first was blame, he'd spent an hour just trying to find _someone else_ to blame. He'd tried blaming Professor Oak, for having a Pokémon left for him to take, that had lasted about five seconds. No Pikachu meant no journey, no journey meant no friends for him to mourn over losing. He'd tried blaming Misty for fishing him out and then following him, but quickly shook that off, literally, with a violent shaking of his head. He'd tried blaming Brock, for not giving him some kind of advice to save him from this before it happened, but then he realized Brock probably _had_, somewhere down the line. He tried to blame Gary, for being such an asshole of a rival, in forcing him to get better and better, but he remembered that when Gary had ceased that role, it ended up being taken by another anyway. He tried blaming Team Rocket, for constantly stalking them, but could find come up with no excuse as to why exactly that lead to this situation. He tried blaming Ritchie, for beating him in the Indigo League, because if he had won that match, he might have advanced and won there, and quite possibly reached the rank of 'Master' much sooner, possibly in the time the three of them would still be...he'd needed another swig at this point. But his blame quickly turned to Charizard, for disobeying him in that match. If Charizard had listened he'd have won that match, and had a good shot for the rest of the matches. This all became futile when Ash realized that anyone ranked 'Master' at that time would have kicked his ass in a battle, no contest. He'd blamed Pikachu. If the little rat had just listened right away then...his reasoning fell to pieces right there. He'd tried to keep going, but he'd run out of people to try and blame before his last, pathetic ditch effort. He tried to blame his mother for letting him leave, for letting everything come to pass, but was sickened with himself for even thinking such a thing, even if he was drunk. He had tried, but everyone else he could even to hope to have blamed, he'd only met because of his own actions, of his own dream. The only one he could blame was himself.

He'd moved to anger, trying to bring himself to destroy something, but it just wasn't in him. He'd moved into depression, crying over the state of affairs he himself had created. He'd finally settled on apathy, silent, but his mind running a mile a minute. Now he found himself laying on the floor, on his stomach as he simply lay there, his mind running slower and slower, winding down for the day, for the hangover that was coming in the morning. He blinked as suddenly the bag that had been moved to his bed during his drunken fit fell, letting something from the bag fall out onto his hand.

He was too out of it to gasp, but his eyes had snapped fully open when he saw it. He'd not looked at or held this in...he could not recall when the last time was. This one piece of fabric, perhaps his single most treasured possession. He grasped it, gently holding it in his hand as he simply stared at it _"How could I let this happen..." _His tears finally started to fall, trailing down his face into the floor below him. The handkerchief he had been given was for an occasion just like this, for this very reason, for when missing her had become too much. But he wouldn't dare, back then the reasons for their parting were fair, it was nobody's fault. It was just time to say goodbye, but it did not have to be forever. This time someone was to blame, this time he had been the one to create the distance between them. He had no right to even have that handkerchief anymore, but that did not mean he was going to let it go. _"Misty..."_ That was the last of his thoughts in the waking world. The last thought before a mixture of drunkenness and tiredness soon claimed him, his unconscious mind preparing to be the one to punish him now.

Hours later Delia would enter the room, finding the unconscious form of her son laid on the floor, bottle long having since escaped his grasp. She would not need to expend much effort in discovering what had happened, the handkerchief alone would do explain enough. She would realize that while she, Misty, and all of Ash's friends had suffered, they were not the only ones. His pitiful form grasping the handkerchief with all the strength that an unconscious body could spoke more than words were capable. She would start crying even before she left him in the blissful state of unconsciousness, before retreating to her room to weep over what had become of her own son. She would weep for her son growing up, and not doing so well. She would cry for what his own dream had done to him. She would cry for what he had let it cost him, how he had let it consume him. She would cry for the fact that her baby had been left on his own for far too long. She would cry for the fact that it seemed almost impossible now that her son would finally address the feelings she had seen in him, and in the one he held them for since the day she had first seen then together.

She would cry...for the both of them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End

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Author's notes:

So should I continue? Or leave it there? Your choice! This chapter does its job as a tragic ending, but I'm nothing if not a supporter of that political process known as democracy.


	2. Of Those Left Behind

Author's Notes: You voted, I listened. Here's chapter two.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Indeed his subconscious mind had punished him, and had Ash been the masochistic type he'd have seriously been taking note at just how creative his mind was at self-torture. He'd dreamed that he had arrived home once more, for some reason he'd just opened the front door. He'd found his mother at the kitchen table, doing something he could not remember but he could remember what happened next. He'd tried to get her attention, only to be asked 'who are you?'. He'd said he was her son but she'd shook her head. "No, no. My son's a good boy."

Just then he'd suddenly turned around to see a faceless figure appear, and somehow knew that _this_ was the son she had spoken of. His dream had changed, he'd found himself in the river that he had fallen into on the day he'd started his journey. He'd been drowning, desperately reaching above the water for escape. Misty was again on a rock overlooking the river, but she had no fishing rod this time, and she was not alone. She had Brock were watching, watching him drown. He'd reached up for them, crying out for help. They'd done nothing, and when his screaming grew louder they'd only laughed.

He found himself in front of Dawn and May, but he'd said nothing to him, nor they to him. They'd simply walked away from him. One of them spoke, but he could not tell who it was. Perhaps this was his minds' way of showing they both thought the same thing. "To think I once looked _up_ to him." The other responded with a sympathetic tone. "I know, I did to. Who'd look up to someone like _him_?" He'd tried speaking, but nothing came out. Somehow he'd lost all ability to speak. They'd walked on to join Max, who gave him a look of hatred before walking off with them. The scene eventually changed once more, and he'd found himself in a familiar looking arena, looking across at his Sinnoh Rival, Paul.

"You're no better than me."

"That's not true! I've never hurt my Pokémon!"

"No." He laughed. "You just hurt your friends." Paul had laughed, and laughed, every expression of joy at his anguish striking at him with a fury. He'd been ready to scream at Paul to shut up, when somehow he became aware of the crowd in the stadium. Everywhere he turned he saw somebody he'd once known, and no matter what he looked they'd looked at him with hostile intent. He'd circled around, trying to find something, someone who wasn't against him. He'd just kept turning, and turning, and soon the stadium and Paul were gone, everything was gone, he'd just been standing, turning, trying to find something but finding no-one.

Then he suddenly felt pain. Not emotional pain, no. Pain like something was drying to pound into his skull.

He'd woken up even before opening his eyes, becoming aware of a sound of flapping wings departing his room. He heard the sounds of Pidgys outside his house, cawing softly as they flew by.

So why did every caw sound like an explosion? He opened his eyes to see Pikachu grinning at him.

"Not a word. Or it's-ughhh." Ash moved his hands to his throbbing temples, trying to calm the raging headache he'd found himself with.

Pikachu removed his grin, deciding not to make fun of his best friend's problem. "Ka chu, pi?" _That bad, huh?_

"Feels like my head has spent an hour as a Machamp's punching bag. So yeah that bad." _"So this is what a hangover is."_ He got up, head pounding harder than a Belly Drum and quickly picked up and dumped the now empty offending bottle in the trash. "I'm never drinking again, and if I change my mind, shock me. You'll be doing me a favour."

"Chu chu." _Aye aye._

Ash moved, making his way out of the room and into the hall, quickly locating the bathroom and entering. He took a look at himself in the mirror. A little worse for wear, but nothing too horrifying. He shook his head, but quickly regretted the action. "Is Mom around?" He started rubbing sleep out his eyes with his left hand.

Pikachu shook his head. "Ka, pikachi pi, pikachu pi kachipi..." _No, she went out, shopping she said but._.. Pikachu prepared for the worst. "Pika chu pi pika chu pikachu pika." _She found you this morning, and __probably saw the bottle._

Ash stopped everything, quickly leaning his face on the mirror in front of him, he took a moment to process what _that_ must have looked like. "Damn. And to think I got that to _celebrate_."

Pikachu moved into 'damage control' mode."Pika chu pikachu pi, pika chupi pi chu pika. Pikachu pika pi chu pika pi kachu pi chu pikachu pika pi." _Well I don't think you need to explain, I don't think she'll ask details. You should let her know that's the last you're drinking though._ Ash nodded against the glass.

Pikachu watched his friend intently, who was still using his left hand in an attempt to make his face more presentable, or at least less hungover. Pikachu moved his eyes to Ash's right hand, and grinned.

"Chu pika." _Call her._

"Who?"

"Pikachu-Pi. Pi chu pika pi." _Misty. You miss her most._

"I miss them all, Pikachu."

"Chu, pi Pikachu-Pi chu. Pikachu pika pikachu." _Yeah, but Misty most. Don't bother lying._ Pikachu suddenly jumped down to the bathroom floor, off, most likely to continue his new diet of nothing but ketchup. Ash would later have to make note of supplying Pikachu with greater amounts of that certain food dressing in coming days, unless he could come up with a way to wean the little rodent off the stuff. The odds of that were slimmer than...Ash was still too hungover at that point to think of a good example.

Whether it was by mistake or design, Pikachu's tail had lightly tapped Ash's right hand as he jumped down, bringing attention to what he was still holding.

Another surge of guilt, but Ash still found himself looking intently at his friend's parting gift. Suddenly he wanted to punch himself (but his headache quickly silenced that idea), he'd let her leave so easily before he'd gone to Hoenn. What had he been thinking? He should have begged her not to leave, begged her to stay, or at least made damn sure how much she meant she had meant to him, but he'd never said how much their time together had meant. He'd never said it to Brock either, but Misty...somehow not saying what he should have to her just him hurt more. He turned from it, forcing himself to drop the topic and get on with his day, but not before returning his room, placing the Handkerchief carefully inside his bag once more.

Pikachu had been watching, smiling to himself. "_Wonder if he'll finally figure it out."_ His smile grew. "_I hope so. Arceus knows he needs her. I just hope she needs him too."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Exactly twenty-four hours had passed since Ash had showed up at the Cerulean City gym, only to leave, and for the second day in a row Misty was in the same location, only this time she was waiting. She'd been waiting for ten whole minutes to see if Ash would show up again. She'd wait ten more.

She'd wait in vain.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A while later Pikachu and Ash found themselves in the kitchen, Ash drinking Coffee for the first time in his hyperactive life and Pikachu working through another bottle of ketchup. Curious, Ash asked; "What number are you up to now?"

Pikachu finished a mouthful and kicked his lips "Pika chupi." _Bottle eleven._ Pikachu belched. "Pika pi chu." _That's the stuff._

"You'll puke the rate you're going."

"Kachu pika." _Beats drinking._

With a nod Ash let silence reign again, taking another sip of coffee. He briefly wondered if people only found themselves depressed when they drunk, along with a hangover in the morning why in the hell did they do it? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, and his mother entering the kitchen.

She'd hidden it rather well, but Ash could tell right away she'd been crying, likely having gone out to someone else for some much needed sympathy. That was two strikes against him, someone had taken what should have been his role, and he'd been the problem! _Now_ he had a guess as to why people _kept_ drinking, maybe to them it was better than trying to fix whatever they'd screwed to hell. Ash was not that much of a coward, and he doubted he could stand Pikachu shocking him awake every morning on top of the hangover, he knew his friend would start doing it eventually, even if he hadn't already made him promise to shock him.

Delia waited a few seconds before speaking, trying to create a believable expression of happiness, she pulled off the face well, but her voice could not fully mask the weight she'd been burdened with. "Finally up, huh?"

He gave her one of his signature grins, well as best as he could currently pull off. "Yeah, have been for a little while. I swear to Arceus I am _never_ drinking again."

Delia seemed to get the hidden message, and gave him a genuine smile. "How did you get that bottle anyway?"

"Came across a town in Unova with a lower drinking age. People often drink to celebrate so I got it for after the championship."

Delia knew perfectly that Ash had done no _celebrating_ last night. With the state he'd found him and his room in she could have made a good guess at what he'd been doing. She wondered when and if he was going to ask about his 'first' outfit. Half-hoping he would, then she could direct him right where he needed to go. Half-hoping he wouldn't, because she wasn't sure he'd go. She watched her son take another sip before he spoke again.

"So how have things been here?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Another half an hour of talk about pretty much everything met an interesting kind of awkwardness just before the end. Ash was trying to figure out if he'd said anything wrong when all of a sudden the front door bell rung, announcing the coming of Professor Oak, Gary and Tracey. Ash had to take a moment to realize they hadn't shown up randomly, they'd been asked to show up, and he had a feeling why that was. _"I'm really never drinking again!"_

Ash had managed to sneak out of the Kitchen and retreat upstairs without being detected, with some effort. He loved his Mom, he really did, but this was a real pain in the ass move. Though, he'd thought with a frown. _"She had good reason."_ He wanted to change things, he did, but he needed to prepare himself first. Facing people you'd basically avoided for so long took some serious backbone, backbone Ash was currently in low supply of. His bedroom was neither barricaded nor hidden, and ten minutes after his retreat someone had made their way to it and opened the door.

It was Gary. "Ashy-boy. Long time no see."

"Oh, hi Gary."

It as when that Ash's isolation from people finally hit him. Sure, he'd never been particular close to Gary, or even liked him that much, but he'd at least known how to talk to him. Now, he had no idea what to say, or how do say it if he had. However, Gary had a topic, and was bold (or tactless) enough to just dive right into it.

"I never told gramps, or any of your friends, but I told your Mom I ran into you."

"Oh. You did...umm, thanks."

"Oh you're welcome." Gary's tone changed, and Ash knew that tone of so well..."You know...I'd have thought you'd have kept in contact with her..."

Ash's eye twitched, but he held his temper in check. "You got something to say to me, Gary?"

"Yeah. You're a real piece of shit. I know what that dream meant to you, but not contacting your own _family_. You're all she's got and you still abandoned her!"

Ashs fists suddenly clenched as he heard his own blood pumping."Gary...shut up."

"No! I'm not done! You go off, ditching friends left and right, even your Mom! All this for a damn title. And now you come back expecting to be treated like a some kind of royalty. You selfish bas-"

Gary's words had been knocked out of him, literally, as Ash's fist has rammed itself into his stomach. The unsuspecting researcher collapsed to his knees from the strong blow. His own quick breathing match by Ash's, and the temper he was fighting to keep down.

"I deserve a lot worse than anything you got for me, but I wont be taking anything from you. You don't have a right to be angry with me. You wanna call me a bastard? Go ahead, I deserve it, and worse, but I ain't letting _you_ preach to me! _We've_ never been close! Now get out of my room! Actually, get the hell out of this house!"

He ripped open his room door, to hell with sitting upstairs feeling sorry for himself, it was time to take a step in the right direction. He left Gary on his own, but he'd overheard Gary leaving not long after, feeding a fake excuse to his Grandfather. It looked like one person he was never going to patch things up with was Gary. He couldn't exactly feel sorry for that. While said in anger, his words were true. They had neither been really been friends, not like the ones Ash wished to make amends to. Gary had always been just an obstacle, a marker of which to define himself against, but only now he realized it had been time to put an end to his ties with the young researcher long ago. Some people just had to avoid one another outright, for the better of both. This was such a time.

Ash just hoped no other reunion went down that slope.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ring ring ring, phone call, phone call. Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call, pho-"

Brock moved from the table he had been looking over some papers on, answering to find he had received a call from. "Misty, hey."

"Hi Brock. I'm not interrupting something am I?"

"Nothing really important. To what do I owe the pleasure? Dewgong's tail acting up?"

Misty shook her head. "Dewgong's fine, thanks again for treating him."

"Thanks for letting me. I got extra credit for that." Misty laughed. While it had been a long time since either of them had gone on an adventure, they still managed to find ways to laugh about the randomness of life. You'd didn't need to walk across countries to find adventures. Sometimes those adventures found you, even if they'd wandered impossible lengths to find you. "So what _did_ you call for?" He watched his friend take a long, deep breath, this was not going to be good, he assumed. He assumed right, because the next word to come out of Misty's mouth changed the atmosphere of the conversation entirely.

"Ash."

Even more than a year after Ash had faded from their lives, he still found a way to keep a hold on the both of them. They both remembered back when the inevitable had truly bore its face, Brock's last meeting with Ash had been the final warning sign. He remembered that night, and the one he'd spent on the phone with Misty when he'd finally gotten home. For different reasons, the atmosphere of the conversation had been utterly destroyed. Ash had exploded at him, Misty had dissolved into a puddle of tears, and though he had hid it well, he'd cried some tears of his own too. That had been the day that they had silently agreed; Ash would never be spoken of again. They had kept that agreement well, even at first, which had been the hardest. Reminiscing about their adventures had eventually joined Ash in the 'off limits' category, a massive portion of their lives, perhaps the single most important of it had been sealed off ever since. If Misty was bringing him up, then something big had to have happened.

"I see."

"Brock. I know we don't talk about him anymore, but this is important. He's back."

"By 'back' you mean..."

"In Kanto, yeah. He...stopped by my Gym the day before yesterday..."

_That_ he would never have expected. "And?"

Misty shrugged. "Nothing. He just stood outside for a minute and walked off. He didn't notice me, or that I was watching."

It took Brock a moment to see what Misty wasn't saying, or to be more accurate what she wasn't _asking_. The question was _why_. Why was it that he'd shown up at her doorstep at all? By now, a lot of time had passed since the last time Brock had seen Ash, but the memory of their last encounter was as fresh as the day it had been created.

"Misty." Brock sighed. "Misty...when we...last talked. He told me..." He took a breath. "He told me if he wanted to accomplish his dream, it had to come first, above everything else. That meant _everything_ else Misty. Above his friends, his family." He took a second to prepare himself, and Misty for what he was about to say. "Even you." He saw her eyes flash with pain. "I'm sorry, Misty. But I can't sit by with my mouth shut. I know how you feel, from day one I was expecting you guys to get together, but the Ash we knew is gone. And I don't think he'll be coming back, even if he's finally reached his dream. I don't know what he's doing now, but we should just leave him be. I know it's hard, but isn't it about time you at least tried to find-"

He'd stopped himself, silently cursing Misty for breaking the rule, even for this. He saw it in her eyes before she'd even spoke. This had been far from the first time he'd tried to do what a far younger self would never have done, to get Misty to move on from Ash, but this was the first time he'd forgone the art of being subliminal about it. Just as he feared, Misty suddenly averted her gaze before speaking, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"Sorry Brock, I gotta go."

He didn't get a chance to say goodbye, but if he were honest he was not sure he wanted to. He could make a damn well educated guess at what Misty was going to do now, and it frustrated the hell out of him. Both in at Misty for not letting go, and at Ash for letting her go. It'd been cute at first but now Ash's dense nature was really starting to become a bother. Brock returned to the table on which he had been drinking tea and going over a new medical assignment for his class. They had been instructed to try and create a new medical combination of berries and herbs as a treatment for skin wounds. Brock had come up with two, and was currently in the middle of writing how one of his combinations could be used to combat some effects of burning as wel-

Brock's fist suddenly slammed into the table. He'd spent more time with Ash than anyone who had ever been in Ash's circle of friends, more so even than Misty. He'd always known his friend had a one-track mind when it came to his dream, but never, never would he have guessed this. He, like Misty, knew just exactly how far Ash had gone, how much he'd thrown away in his pursuit. Other former friends of the new Grandmaster were under the blissful assumption that at the very least, Ash had contacting his own Mother consistently. Misty had informed him otherwise. Brock had gone out to meet Ash just because of that, because to Brock, almost nothing was more important than family. Ash's reaction had knocked his former friend's view in his eyes through the floor. He knew that if he'd spread the word, the rest of Ash's former circle of friends would resent him far, far more than they did right now, but what would have been the point?

"Ash you damn idiot. Do you think for anyone other than yourself any more?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as she'd hung up Misty retreated to her bedroom, by some miracle avoiding her sisters in the process. She slumped on her bed without much of a sound. She merely lay there, absent-mindedly playing with Ash's old coat in her hands as she tried to think, her vision clouded by tears.

It had been an unspoken agreement she had never enjoyed, but accepted. Misty had known for some time that Brock thought it would best for her to move on, but this had been the first time he'd been so direct about it. She knew Brock meant well, and very likely he was right. Aside from his success rate with women Brock was a wise and perceptive man, and she guessed that Brock already knew she'd been doing this right now. Though she had never gotten over her feelings for Ash, she was mostly fine before he'd shown up again. She was at a very comfortable place in her life, but not for the first time her childhood friend had knocked her world out of all order.

She still missed him, but the thought of him...she closed her eyes, shifting some particular large tears. She knew from a much younger age than now that she'd fallen for her friend, and fallen hard, but she could never have seen _this_ coming. Never would she have thought Ash could have such a hold on her. Ultimately she didn't know if she _wanted_ Ash to contact her or not, and she didn't think she'd know until she somehow, by a series of events she lacked the imagination to picture, talked to him once more. _"That wont happen."_ The universe was telling her, screaming at her to simply give up. All her closest friends, family, everyone except Delia had told her to give up, but Delia...had Ash even contacted her she wondered.

She hoped that someone along the line, Brock had been wrong. Delia deserved to see and hear from Ash more than anyone, if he hadn't contacted his Mom by now then Brock was absolutely right. But if he had...

She'd call tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash lay out in the field, very close to his house, staring up at the nights sky as he reflected on his day, and the days to come.

Patching things up with Tracey had been interesting. It was strange, in how little hostility there had been. After Tracey had left Ash and co they hadn't exactly talked much, though they had still considered one another friends, but it had been two years. Tracey's efforts had not been so much on Ash and himself, but on talking about Ash and everyone else he had left behind. He had not so subtly probed Ash for his feelings, and intentions there. Ash guessed the artist had left satisfied, he sure seemed happy to see Ash again, and was kind giving a sad truth, Ash was on his own. Not because Tracey wouldn't do anything, it's just he really couldn't. People had to make up their own minds. He'd said he would put in a good word if he was asked though, which Ash had thanked him for. Tracey had asked if he could meet and sketch Ash's current team sometime, a drawing of the world's strongest Pokémon team would be a priceless piece of art, Ash smiled and agreed, asking if Tracey wanted himself to show up with them, have it be a full set. "Why not?" Had been his answer. They'd parted grinning.

One friend had been made amends to, Ash felt better than, he suddenly realized, felt in over a year. He'd joked to Pikachu he should try celebrating again, and cursed under his breath when his mother picked that exact moment to walk into the kitchen.

If he'd paid attention that day he'd have figured out where exactly Pikachu had picked up his more _colorful _language from.

Ash gazed intently at the sky, a million lights shinning down upon him. It was quite a night, with the stars providing enough light on their own to see by. He watched as high above Butterfrees danced in the light, reminding him of his own former Butterfree. He had wondered exactly where his first caught Pokémon had gone to, but not in a very long time. He wondered where exactly he and his mate had gotten to. Were they in even in Kanto now? They'd had a long time to migrate to just about anywhere. Soon the Butterfrees passed, and Ash was left with his problem.

He wanted to reach out to his friends again, but how? Misty was just the biggest error he had to repair, but she was far from the only one. He wondered if Brock was perhaps going to be even harder. He'd never been so angry, or seen Brock that angry in their last meeting. He thought now he finally understood why he had been so angry. He knew Brock was right, somehow, even then. He'd just been to narrow-mindedly stubborn to admit it. Now, now well over a year had passed since then. He'd gone long past the traditional making-up point for any spat he'd had with a friend on his travels. One would think, that with his new found fame, Ash could have simply found new friends. With only a mention of such a desire he'd have Pallet Town _overrun_ with people looking to be a friend to the Grandmaster, but alas one simple fact made that impossible.

He _had_ friends, and he missed _them_.

"_So what do I do?"_

"Ash! Dinner's ready!"

Ash smiled. "_I'll worry about this later."_ He got up. Damn had he missed good home cooked meals.

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Chapter End

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Author's notes: Normally I have so many author's notes to give. But I'll give a typical one. If you like the bok so far, review/spread the word. I like knowing my work is being read/liked, what author doesn't?

Think of it this way: More appreciation for my work = Faster work rate.

Seriously, you **don't** want the same update rate as my (current) main project. Thankfully this is proving far, far easier to write.

Next Chapter!: Well, actually I haven't planned that far ahead yet...


	3. Reflections and Regrets

Author's Notes

A note about the level of angst in the book (so far): It's been raised in review twice, but I doubt Yoshi's Kun is the only thinking it, but the level of emotion in this book is rather high (the angst especially, which to be fair, is a category the book has been placed in.). Ash has come back from accomplishing his dream, and found he's utterly ruined everything else in his life in the process. He had almost nothing to come home to. The fact is that at this point emotions among the characters are rather raw (Ash's in particular) and when emotion's get like that things can get blown completely out of proportion and all kinds of extreme reactions can take place (I've lived enough to know this and see it first hand).

The emotional roller-coaster will have ups and downs, it's part of the process. I don't have it in me to keep things quick and simple, I like a little more fire and depth in my writing, but yes, I could do with turning down the dialogue a bit but this kind of story is very new territory for me, it'll be a while before I find a good balance.

Give it time.

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For the 20th minute in a row, Brock sat before his phone, considering making a call. He'd sat on the chair by the phone since he'd arrived, stopping himself from picking up the phone right away when it occurred to him he wasn't sure what he was going to say.

Brock had a unique view of the situation Ash had created, owing to the fact he'd played the role of older brother figure over the years to Ash and his friends. He'd been one almost all had come to for emotional support when someone finally understood that they had been abandoned. He'd been witness to May and Dawn, both ranting on about how 'that jerk' had been so distant with them when they came out to see him (well they were coming for the contest, but they wanted to meet him too), though he understood they'd only called him that to weaken the impact, the hurt was in their eyes and words, if only in tone. He'd been the one who a rather confused Max had come too, wondering if somehow he'd caused the awkwardness that was the last time they spoke. He'd visited Ash's mother, able to see past the façade she put up while her son was Arceus knows where, because she didn't. Most frequently he'd witnessed Misty, who at times had to play an even stronger façade than Delia.

Now while it was true had a...disappointing success rate with women his declarations of love did not come from an ignorant mind, he could spot real feelings a mile off. He'd known from early on that Misty liked Ash, though at first she'd tried repressing it. After the little incident at Lavender tower however that was it, she'd stopped deny it, at least to herself. Brock had more than once considered trying to interfere, get those two on the path that lead to them being closer but given Ash's obliviousness to the fairer sex, and Misty's stubborn as all hell attitude he'd figured if something was going to happen it would eventually. After he and Misty had to leave however he did briefly wonder what that meant for them both. He'd had to stop himself from showing his shock at what Misty gave Ash the day they left, unlike Ash, he knew perfectly well the meanings attached to that action, and given how much Misty spoke of romance he had no doubt she did too. He realized it then, Misty didn't _like_ Ash, she _loved_ him. He'd have been tempted to suddenly go into one his rants on love, compare the situation of his two friends to the typical tragic romance stories of history, how fate was keeping the two young would-be lovers apart, but when the tragedy was right in front of you, it was so much more real than a mere tale.

More tragic too.

He knew Misty had taken to Ash's actions harder than any of his friends. He didn't blame Ash for not noticing Misty's feelings (he was too compassionate to condemn denseness), but he couldn't help but feel more angry that he should have been at Ash's choices, maybe because he'd found himself having to see every inch of the mess Ash had made, though he did have rights to be angry for himself, he'd been abandoned too,

Unlike anyone else however, he'd been told so to his face, in Ash's own way.

He'd never forget that day...

Brock hadn't met up with Ash looking for a fight, in actuality he had hoped it to be a good visit. He didn't think Ash was doing anything intentionally, he'd just got a little caught up in things is all. He'd gone there partly to try and repair Ash's mistakes, this was Ash after all. Ash was a good guy, if a little one track minded at times, he cared about his friends. Brock figured if he just mentioned the fact that Ash wasn't contacting his other friends (and Mother) much anymore, Ash would realize his mistake and start making calls over the following days. Everything would be fine before the end of the week he'd guessed.

Never would he have expected the reaction he'd gotten.

It was not a moment of his life he was particularly, or even slightly proud of. Things had gotten bad so quick it was hard to recall the exact steps that lead up to Ash getting up and walking away, but the words passed between them were seared into time, Brock would ever forget the words of the single worst moment that had ever happened between them. It looked like Ash had truly chosen his dream over everyone else, and in his own way he had said so, not in those words but he'd found the meaning in them. He'd drawn the conclusion that Ash simply didn't care anymore.

Or so it had seemed...

He'd given Ash visiting the Cerulean city gym some serious thought after the call (and after his own anger subsided). He didn't want Misty doing so however, he didn't like giving false hopes to anyone (and Misty was far too heavily invested) but to Brock Ash's actions said a lot, but he wasn't exactly sure what it meant. He found it of greater interest that he'd visited Misty in particular. However...Ash hadn't made himself known, hadn't tried to make contact, had done nothing but walk away, Brock would have liked to think this was out of shame, but when he thought of their last conversation he couldn't help but doubt it. Maybe he was being unfair on Ash, so he decided to hold off on deciding what to think until (and if) he got the truth.

Which lead him to this, wanting to call, get his former friend on the line and get the truth out of him. He picked up the phone, about to dial. What would he say? What would they both do? Where would the conversation go? Would Ash even want to talk to him? Or would he just blow up at Brocks' words again like las-

He put the phone down with a sigh. He couldn't contact Ash with a clear mind, which meant contacting him would help no one. If Ash still cared about his friends, he'd do the right thing. He could patch things up with Ash then and see where things went. Though when that would be was another story, but if nothing else, Brock was a patient man.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash was flicking through channels randomly. _"Crap. Crap. Crap. Oh, another piece about me...you think they'd get bored by now. 'Grandmaster not seen in public since blah blah blah', crap."_ He flicked through another few channels, Pikachu too distracted with his current endeavour (another bottle of Ketchup) to make any input before Ash finally stopped. It was considerable news, a Pokémon contest that was going down in Celadon City, one that revealed that some big names in the Pokémon contest world were attending.

Two he recognized right away. Once again May and Dawn were going head-to-head by the looks of things. Ash smiled, though sadly. _"I'll have to go see that. Who knows, maybe I'll get a chance to talk to them both. I mean, they're better than my chances with...others anyway. Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna get slapped?"_

He sighed, well he never got this far in life by being a coward, so this could not be avoided. He had a few days before he'd have to go to Celadon. He flipped to another channel before his rhythm of channel surfing was interrupted.

"Ring ring ring, phone call, ring ring ring, phone call."

Ash looked away from the TV, making his way to the house video phone. Delia was currently in the shower so he'd found himself with phone duties. He made his way to the phone, yawning, about to pick up the phone to answer. His hand was just about to touch the device, then he took a look at the caller ID.

Misty

The phone continued to ring, but Ash's arm would no longer move, none of him would. The phone continued sounding out its desire to be answered, but Ash could no longer hear, no longer even truly see. Picking up that phone meant talking, talking meant to her, and to talk to her would mean answering for what he had done. He had no answer that was good enough...

With only a single movement, he could sever the distance between them. For how long he dared not imagine. For the second it took her to realize who was talking to before hanging up? The hours she'd spend shouting a him? Or, as his darkest depths feared, the rest of their lives? Where she'd never let this go, where she'd never let him forget what he had done. She'd once railed on him for even the most minor of things, but this, this was far beyond anything else they'd every argued over. In his heart he felt it, he didn't understand why he felt this way, but to him, no one, no one on this earth deserved to hate him more than her.

If only he knew why. His hand had not moved, not even shook. It, along with him seemed to be frozen in time. Ash was transfixed, gazing that those five little letters on the screen, when put together, in that precise order could distract him from all else. If Ash had taken the time, he might have wondered why that was.

Time saw fit to move once more. The screen changed, and he saw her for the first time in so long. He felt his heart...did it freeze or jump for a second? He wasn't sure. She'd grown up, but he could still recognize her perfectly, those unique eyes, her shining hair, and that face. Ash found himself staring at his first true (human) friend for the first time in what felt now was forever, it was mesmerizing, he felt glad to simply see her, but crushing guilt, just knowing why he had not seen her in so long. He suddenly felt how (he guessed) some people felt staring at a painting. Every brush-stroke, every detail, every essence of life could be lovingly woven into the fabric of the surface, but it was just that, a painting. Beautiful, captivating, even capable of pulling on the heart, but it was that, a painting.

And the subject of the painting was so often beyond reach. Still he continued watching, smiling in spite of himself as he heard her joyful tones for the first time in oh so long...

"Hi, Delia. Sorry it's been a while but the Gym's been getting a lot of challenges recently, load of wanna-bes who still think my Gym is weak...blame my sisters." Her voice changed from the light, cheery tones that made Ash smile to a more solemn one, filling Ash the feeling that he had been a frequent topic between his Mom and former friend. "Anyway, I'm calling about...Ash. I heard about his new title, and well...if you wanna talk I'm here, okay? I'll close the Gym for however long you need me for, or just leave my sisters to run it, it's overdue for someone to get a badge from us. Call me back soon, ok? Bye, Delia."

She hung up. Just like that. One instance he almost felt...right again, like when he was still wandering through Sinnoh? Back when he was with people? Somehow he doubted that. He was reminded of the feeling he had when travelling with people for sure, but this had been different, a feeling from much further back in time. For a brief instant he almost felt like when he was ten again, in his earliest and best days, everything was new, everything was a mystery, everything was with her, Brock too but Misty had so much more of a grip on him, why that was he didn't know, he'd never questioned it back then, it'd just seemed right, he was comfortable with it. Why break something that wasn't broken?

Now however, the moment of bliss was gone, the screen had turned black, and he found himself back in the real world. He was sixteen. He'd changed, and the world seemed to have changed too. He no longer held that sense of wonder, yet another thing that was disposed of in his travel through Unova. The dark shades of his current world had been contrasted against the light of his old, revealing his current as even uglier than they had been, and made even more so by what he had just been shown.

Her message was less than thirty seconds long, but such as it was that people sometimes managed to say far less in thirty _years_. She'd managed to say how she and her mother had been there for one another, even in his absence and because of it as time had gone on. She'd said how even through everything, Misty still kept track of him, even if it may have been only enough to learn of his recent victory. Lastly, and the most vicious bite to his heart of all, she'd said the one thing that made part of him break.

Misty had lost faith in him, just as he had feared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty placed the phone back, frowning to herself. _"You better have contacted her, Ash. Or I swear I won't ever forgive you."_

She was just about to take some mid-morning laps in the pool when, "Misty! There's like, another challenger coming in!"

She rose up, her (mostly) good mood shot down. _"That's the fifth one today! Where did I put that mallet?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash had run outside, desperate to just _breathe_. He slammed down into the fields before his home and felt his entire body revolting against what he'd just discovered. He hadn't yet dared to imagine just how back his abandonment of everyone else could have been for them, he wasn't sure if he could actually take it. Now he didn't have a choice, reality was kicking down his mental defences and prying open his eyes, there would be no blinding himself to the truth now.

How many times? How many times had Misty and his own Mother been sad together because of _him_? It can't have been only once, but he didn't want to take an exact guess, fearful that he'd get an accurate and very grim number. Day after day it was becoming more real. _"Can't I go one day without getting kicked while I'm down?"_ He'd come home to find his mother, little more than a dam of tears which broke the second he came home, and not for the first time he had no doubt. Had Misty cried with her? Had Misty even been the only one to do so? He felt himself starting to cry again. _""What have I done?"_ He forced a hand to his eyes, trying to fight the river down with force. He forced himself to calm down before rising to his feet, remembering a certain...unpleasant meeting the previous day.

Swallowing his own bile, Ash realized, as much of an ass Gary was, he'd been right. He owed him...an apology. _"I'll put that one __last__ on my to-do list. Ugh. Maybe I should have just stayed on the road."_

He'd never regret punching him though, he had a _long_ list of reasons to justify doing that.

Ash slowly rose to his feet, wiping himself off of any traces of his little episode. Fortunately his eyes required no deception to be applied to them, he made his way back to his house.

He walked inside, thankfully his mother still seemed to be upstairs, so he wouldn't need to explain his sudden departure and re-arrival. He considered going back to watch TV, but on the way he passed the phone again and flinched. Sooner or later his Mom was going to notice that, and she was going to respond to it, perhaps she'd even bring it up to him-no! He wouldn't, he couldn't. He could not bring himself to talk to her now, he could not talk to his..._former_...best friend. He shook his head and began to make a beeline to the door when-

"Where are you going, Ash?"

He jumped, his mother was coming down the stairs and he hadn't even noticed. He arranged his facial features into a 'happy' expression and turned around. "Just going for a walk, Mom. I just need some tim-some fresh air, that's all. I wont be long. Bye." Cursing his slip-up, he opened the door and made his way out, lightly shutting the door behind him.

She knew her son was hiding something from the second she saw him, and since nothing had been wrong before she'd gone to shower that must have meant that something had happened while she was gone. She didn't notice any signs of visitors, so she decided to check the phone first.

"Oh my." After getting herself dressed she'd have to call Misty.

It'd take Misty just that long to beat her challenger and send his bruised ego (and Pokémon) to the Pokémon Center. She'd find herself having greatly enjoyed that battle. There was always a certain sadistic pleasure in beating Bug Pokémon, especially when you had a Gyarados that you could give the order 'flamethrower' to anytime.

On his way out Ash realized he had lost track of his hat (he'd gotten into the habit of wearing it everywhere, even indoors. Amazing how little you cared for manners while travelling alone.), likely during his little...upset. He considered looking for it when, "Mine! Mime!" Ash stopped to see the house janitor making his way towards him, holding his hat. It occurred to Ash that he hadn't seen the clown-like Pokémon since he got back, but remembered his Mother mentioning Professor Oak badly needing an extra set of hands at the lab for a couple days, which Mr. Mime was taxed with.

"Hey, Mimey. Thanks." He took his hat, placing it on himself right away. "I'm guessing your saw me, _please_ don't tell Mom. She wouldn't take it well." Mimey nodded. "Thanks. I'm off to wander for a while, take care of Mom." He shifted his hat slightly when it occurred to him..."Mimey, you remember the first outfit I adventured in right?"

"Mime! Mime!" An eager nodding accompanied this answer.

"I couldn't find it in my room. Do you know where it is?"

"Mime..." Mr. Mine was slowly shaking his head. Ash shrugged.

"Oh well. It'll turn up. See you later."

As he left, Ash couldn't help wonder where the hell his first outfit had gotten too. _"Not that I'd let it go, but it'd probably be worth a fortune now!"_ He suddenly couldn't help but picture an auction, with his original outfit being the item up for bid. _"__Grandmaster Ash Ketchum's original outfit, starting bid is 2,500,000 Pokedollars._" He blinked, recalling something. _"Actually...wasn't that the prize money for one of the top places at the championship? And what did I get for winning?"_

He'd have to check his bank account sometime, and when that time came he'd find himself yet again frozen for a while. Pikachu would accompany him when he finally did, with the most important question regarding that amount being the first thing he brought up to his friend when Ash could finally process thought again and told him the sum.

_How much is that in Ketchup?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty picked up the phone to see "Delia! Hi. I was wondering when you'd call back."

The smiling Delia ran a hand through her hair, checking if it was properly dried. "Just in the shower. But you were right, it has been a while. So tell me how you are."

Misty blinked, this conversation was _not_ going the way she'd expected. Delia was so...happy. More so than Misty had seen her in a long time. She'd always put up a convincing front, which had taken much less effort when Misty visited or called but now it was...gone. Misty gave a short but detailed account of current events; more or less the usual would sum it up nicely. Misty was trying to think of what to say next, struggling so much that she spent a number of seconds in silence, silence Delia was quickly able deduce a reason for.

"You want to ask about Ash, don't you?"

"Sorry, it's just I was wondering if..."

Delia smiled, with more joy than Misty had seen on her face in a very long time. "He came home. My baby's finally home!"

"R-really?" Misty took a second to form an honest, but burdened smile. "That's great." Misty felt the questing brewing on the back of her tongue, but she sealed her jaw to prevent it escaping. She wanted to ask if Ash had mentioned missing anyone, but more so if he missed herself, but that would have been too selfish. Delia was happy, and that was the important thing.

Delia could tell what Misty was also thinking, her acting was decent, but they had spent too much time together for Misty to be able to fool her easily. "He really misses you."

"H-he does? Has he...said anything?"

"No. But a mother can tell." She decided against telling her exactly _how_ she had been able to tell. "He's too ashamed. He hasn't contacted anyone else either. I've never...seen him like this..."

Silence came, and with it a heavier mood polluted the atmosphere. Misty watched, more confused than anything. Delia wasn't angry in the least, she was just sad, and not for herself. She spoke her thoughts before she could stop herself.

"I just don't get it...after what he did...how can you just...forgive him?"

"_Ah to be young."_ Her eyes met Misty's, as best they could through a video call, and she was resolute in her answer. "He's my son. I'm his mother, and I couldn't just turn him away, especially when he came back as sad as he did. One day you'll have a child of your own. You'll understand then."

Feeling she had overstepped her boundaries, Misty tripped over herself to break into apology. "I'm sorry, Delia. I didn't mean to offend. I-"

Delia had raised a hand, but was smiling. "I know. And I'm not mad, so don't worry." She dropped her smile. "I'm not going to ask you to do anything, but Ash regrets what he did. Try not to dwell too much on what he did, just remember that he came back, and he misses you. Just like you miss him." She smiled again. "Think about it, OK? Goodbye, Misty."

"Bye, Delia."

Misty put the phone back down. That call had been...different from anything she would have expected, and she didn't know how to take it. She was happy Delia was happy, no question there. She'd spent so much time with the woman over the years, so much that she felt she really owed Ash a really vicious blow to his unmentionables (delivered with a solid steel mallet) for what he did to his own mother/her mother figure. But seeing Delia become so much happier so quickly...

She sighed. This was...confusing. On a simple level, her actions could be deemed foolish. Ash was back, she had missed him, so she should have already gotten up and started making her way there, but then there was the complicated part; Just why it was they had not talked in so long. It was true, that by the end of communication between Ash and herself Misty too had ceased giving a great deal of effort in what communication they had but he'd made it so damn hard! Even holding up the most basic of conversations with him eventually became an impossible task. It was like something had been wedged between them and she couldn't think of a way to shift it, and Ash was too dense to have understood had she asked about it. She did what she previously thought impossible of herself.

She gave up on him, gave up trying to talk to someone who didn't show any interest in talking to her, but for a while hoped that it was just some kind of phase, and that soon enough Ash would make contact again. She'd have been alright with that, but soon days turned into weeks, and that into months, and somehow a year managed to creep by, and then more time followed. She had tried to simply give up and forget about him, but that had been an impossible exercise, even if she hadn't been visiting his mother Ash would have, and did find ways to creep into her thoughts. She didn't want to say it out loud, but she did miss him, and he missed her.

"_So why did he ever let me go?"_

Once more she asked that question, once more silence was all that would answer her.

"Zurill! Zurill!" Misty suddenly turned her eyes to see her 'baby' bouncing on its tail to reach her, bouncing right from the floor up to between her and the phone.

"Hey, baby. Hungry?"

"Azu!"

Misty picked up her youngest Pokémon, "Alright then. Wanna eat with everyone else today?"

"Azu, azu!"

She smiled. "Then I will too."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia put the phone down gently, a small smile gracing her lips. _"Maybe there's hope for them after all."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once more Ash's feet had done the travel planning for him, and had taken him to another familiar sight. With a sudden smirk he remembered the first time he'd found himself here, soaked, an injured Pikachu in hand, and having just been fished out by his (eventually) favourite tomboy. He found himself sitting on the very rock he'd landed on, before laying down to gaze up at the sky. So much time had passed since the day he'd been fished from this river, only now did he realize just how long it really had been. How long it had been since he'd met the one on his mind..._"Misty..."_ He sighed, he was going to be here a while, content once more just to wallow in his thoughts, no matter how depressing. His mind was so lost in thought he almost didn't notice that his body was moving of its own accord.

He caught himself, and took close notice at where his hand was going. He blinked, what was in his jacket's left breast pocket? He reached in, feeling something before pulling it out.

He gasped.

When had he put _that_ there? The miniaturized lifeless version of Misty stared back at him, winking as it always had. He took careful note of the face, so carefree and happy. It reminded Ash of the times the real Misty had smiled at him. _"How would you look at me now?"_

He continued to stare, part of him lost in the thoughts the image inspired, the other trying to remember when he'd put this inside of the zipped pocket. It, like Misty's handkerchief, got swept up with the other things he decided to take to Unova, it must have. Alas a share of the things he'd taken had been decided at random, so he can't have been sure if he'd intended to take either. He tried to remember when he'd gone fishing in Unova, but in all of his two years there he drew up a blank. He'd had no reason to find this most important lure, yet here it was. He closed his eyes, desperately probing his mind, reaching into the moments of deepest shame.

The spiral which began the separation of him and Misty. He barely remembered their last call, their last conversation that even resembled something meaningful. What had they said? Why had they laughed at random points, and why had it suddenly turned so...quiet? What had caused the silence before their goodbye? How did it happen after that? Where did that conversation, the first step suddenly move into them finding themselves with less and less to talk about? Where exactly had it ended? So much of his time in Unova had become a blur, because so much of it really was the same. Get up, train, seek battle, redouble training upon defeat, repeat. The brief interludes when he had talked to people were the only real markers to define points in time, and when that stopped there was nothing else to take it's place, aside from noteworthy victories. Differentiating one day from another wasn't an easy task, but he did find _something_.

It had been eight months into his tour around Unova, he'd found himself on a mountain range with the most amazing view of the stars. He remembered he'd reflected there at night, but on what? And why? What had he thought about over the month he stayed there? He had thought of her? Had he felt regret? Had he missed her? Had he pulled out the lure, desperate just to see her again? Even if it was only an imitation? Had this been an attempt to hold on? A desperate plea by the part of himself that was not sacrificing himself to the obsession that grew every day? With a tear he realized, had that been the case, then this lure had been in his jacket for well over a year, never removed, never noticed, a smile suspended in time, but even this lovingly crafted gift was a shadow of the real thing.

Why oh why hadn't he just picked up a damn phone? One call, _one!_ One call could have fixed things, he could have done it the instant he realized they had stopped talking. That would have been perfect. He could have done it a week later, a close second. He could have done it a month later, that would have likely been enough. He could have done it six months later...that might have helped. But no, he had permitted time to crawl on, crawl until finally it had managed to get away from him, and her with it. If only he'd...just taken the time. The time to talk, the time to spend on her. Time to spend _with_ her. All that wandering alone hadn't been fun, a lot of the time it was merely _bearable_. Yet he'd chosen that over her, over everyone else. How he longed to just go back and change things, just to do the right thing. How he wished...she was back in his life again. He'd let this go on too long, he could have fixed this easily _then_, but that was _then_, this was _now_.

_Now_ was too late.

"Pi pika chu pika pika chu pi? Ka chu pika pi pika kachu?" _You planning to avoid her until you die of old age? Or just until you finally man up?_

Ash was far from surprised he had been found, getting away from Pikachu was a nigh impossible task. He didn't respond immediately. He just looked into the eye of the lure, deeper than he had ever looked into the eyes of the one who made it. He wanted...too much. He clasped the lure into a fist, forcing it back to its home. He wanted to rush back home to call, or even better yet rush to Cerulean city and just talk to her again, but shame chained him down. After what he had let happen, _made happen, _how could he dare to do so? What would give him that right?

"Whichever comes first."

With that Pikachu knew the conversation was at an end. He knew his friend well enough to know that further questioning was going to go nowhere, Ash was impossible to talk to while despondent, and alas the very cause of his current depression could have easily pulled him out of it had she been here, oh cruel irony..."_The one time he comes up with a witty comeback. Ash..."_ Ash stood up, walking away. Pikachu watched him walk away. _"Why do you do this to yourself?"_ Even had he said it out loud Pikachu doubted Ash would have answered, he merely kept walking, to where was obvious, the only place he felt he could go now.

Pikachu followed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As it would turn out, Ash would not manage to make it home just yet. Tracey had bumped into him and managed to convince Ash to come pose for the drawing he'd promised. For the first time since getting home Ash found himself at the Oak family lab, but he would be spending this visit outside. Ash couldn't help but smile as he watched the actions of certain Pokémon in the fields of the lab, ones that had written their names in history forever more, the first one he noticed was currently scratching his very large belly.

The Slumbering Titan, or so Snorlax had become known as during the championship. Snorlax entered most of his battles asleep, but that did not negate his ability to fight, a third of his victories had been seized asleep, and given how a number of them were seized by Snorlax trying to eat his opponent it can be guessed with reasonable certainty what he'd been dreaming about. Snorlax's final battle in the Championship had been one he'd entered awake from the start, fighting at a double type disadvantage but that did nothing to stop him fighting the good fight.

Cynthia's Lucario had proven to be by far the best trained Ash had ever fought. It's fighting style was both highly refined and combined with its physical strength, extremely destructive. More than half the fight had seen Snorlax being punched and kicked across the arena, but Ash was far too cunning, and Lucario (along with Cynthia) overconfident in his own abilities. For all his strength, even he couldn't move 1000 pounds of Pokémon easily, and that's what Ash gave him to move. A cleverly timed Rollout tricked Lucario into throwing the Pokémon upwards (with immense effort), leaving the now exhausted Pokémon to take on the full brunt of the force that was the falling 'Snorlaxrite' (as the commentator had called him) who was more than well-versed in controlling the direction of his fall. Snorlax had delivered Ash a (literally) crushing victory. The first round of their match gave Ash a sizeable and early lead. Snorlax had earned the right to sleep for a full year if he so desired, and he was starting to make good on that reward right now.

Ash's eyes turned to a pool, where a number of water Pokémon were attempting to dance, trying to both imitate and keep away from the leader of the session, lest they find themselves crushed underfoot. A long time had passed since this dancer was the little Totadile that Ash acquired in Johto. Now a mighty Feraligatr stood in his place. His evolution had been an interesting one, given that it was the fasted two evolutions that Ash had ever seen. During training Totadile suddenly found himself evolving, but the second he was finished evolving he took one quick look at himself as a Croconaw, gave a dissatisfied growl and suddenly he was alight again. When he was done he'd been quite satisfied with the results, breaking into a dance of joy almost right away. Ash found himself jumping away as far as he could, given that the ground looked like it would collapse around him.

Back when he was a Totodile, his dancing had been a mixture been an annoyance and, well, annoyance as a weapon. Now he was a Feraligatr his dancing was just plain dangerous. Ash couldn't help but laugh at the memory when he'd first used the dancer in a match at the championship. His opponent's Dragonite had been an impressive beast, managing to knock out a somewhat tired Snorlax with a swift strike, but Ash simply pointed to the pseudo-legendary and told his dancer to "have fun".

The Dragon was defeated in less than a minute. The remainder of the entire match was over in less than five. People and Pokémon alike learned to fear the dancing Pokémon, especially when its twirling came with a gigantic Iron Tail. Entire sections of the walls had to be repaired whenever Feraligatr got into his 'battle dance'.

Miraculously, crowd injuries didn't increase at all. Though Ash was sure he was going to find himself in hospital one day, evolution had not weaned the creature off affectionate nibbling.

Next he found a small crowd of Pokémon, two members in particular standing out. He smiled, Charizard and Charla were visiting for now, and would be in Pallet for a while, Charizard wanted to visit some old friends and spend time with his team members, current and old.

Charizard had proved once again that it would always be the main source of raw power among Ash's Pokémon. Charizard had more often than not managed to defeat several foes before finally being taken down in a match, even then often leaving the victor so exhausted they couldn't keep going for long after anyway. Through his training in the Charicific Valley he had proven himself to be the strongest Charizard there, and a number of eager Charizard's at the championship had attempted to challenge him in his quest to be the strongest Charizard in the entire world.

These were times Ash could not get Charizard to listen to him, though he never needed to in these matches, he'd delivered a victory to Ash every time. Ash had found himself almost feeling sorry for the residents of the valley. Charizard was only going to have a bigger ego than when he left when he finally returned to the Charicific valley. Fortunately however, Ash's main powerhouse had something to keep him distracted from punishing his fellow residents these days. Something which was running towards Ash right now.

"Hey there." Ash grinned. "Ash."

"Char! Char!" Ash leaned down to embrace "Ash", while the little Charmander's parents looked on with pride. Ash the Charmander, the Charmander that had been named after him. When Ash had called upon his old friend he'd been quite surprised to see him come with Liza and Charla, Liza riding in the balloon with the youngest member of the group. Liza had told him that Charizard had named his first after his trainer, one of the most touching moments in said trainer's life, so touching in fact that a tear did manage to escape, only to be erased by the young Charmander's display of intended affection. After Ash finished blowing smoke out of his mouth he couldn't help but grin. _"__Just like your dad.__"_

Ash (the human) did wonder if the months that he had spent with his victory team training in isolation had been hard on Charizard, but Pikachu had assured him that while the dominant male of the Charicific Valley did miss his family, he wouldn't miss this championship for anything. Even so far away Charizard was absolutely loyal, he'd have spent a lifetime training for that championship had Ash asked him. Ever since Ash worked tirelessly to save his life nothing, quite literally nothing was going to stop him from helping the human he respected most. He'd return for Ash's title defence next year, and every year after that unless Ash told him to stop. Besides, Charizard was a warrior at heart, he got bored without a good opponent to fight now and then.

Charla had proven to be the perfect mate. Ash the Charmander's conception had been an...interesting night.

Ash looked around, and quickly found his Sceptile. As always he was chewing on a twig, and was currently lounging beneath the shade of a tree. Out of his entire team he was distinctly accomplished in terms of victories at the tournament. Tobias, who had defeated Ash at the Lilly of the Valley Conference, had been the victim of a very cruel defeat at the championship. Last time he'd gone head-to-head with Ash, he'd beaten him with only two Pokémon. This time, Sceptile defeated all of Tobias' team himself. It had been a trying battle, leaving Sceptile unable to fight for a couple of days after, but Sceptile, more than any other member on Ash's team and proven that a mere title of 'legendary' did not define a Pokémon's strength. Charizard was Ash's raw power, Pikachu his speed (and ace Pokémon), Snorlax his iron wall and Feraligatr his...weaponized entertainment and moral booster (his dances were inspiring to watch, even while being used to beat something unconscious). Sceptile had proven himself on sheer skill. Both he and Ash had taken a cruel sense of satisfaction in demolishing Tobias outright.

From that battle on Ash was favoured to win the tournament, because then the world finally knew. To his team; 'Legendary' was merely a title, and something they could and would beat into the ground. Others in the tournament had put legendary Pokémon in front of Ash and his team, none of them had been able to seize even a single victory against his any of his team. The greatest challenges, and defeats against members of Ash's team had come from 'normal' Pokémon, those who had not let themselves be undermined by titles created by the myth writers of history. Many Pokémon at the championship had challenged the conception that 'legendaries' were the strongest, and any who managed to even present a challenge a member of Ash's had done so admirably.

Lastly Ash's eyes found his youngest team member, one he had raised since he'd hatched, and had proven himself time and again to be the single most headstrong of the team, perhaps even more so than his trainer. Young though he was, he'd proven capable of backing up his ego with matching strength.

It all started when Ash had helped resolve a conflict, the details of which he'd mostly forgotten over time, but perhaps he'd remember one day. The egg had been a 'thank you' gift for that event, and oddly Ash had kept it, which when he thought about it did surprise him. He'd been content to wonder with Pikachu, training the electric mouse exclusively, and it was working out well for the both of them. He could have simply sent that egg away but he kept it, he wasn't sure why. He kept good care of the egg until one day it had suddenly hatched, a Scraggy had come into this world, and was eager to make quite an introduction.

Pikachu had needed several minutes for the headache to subside.

Ash had wanted to send Scraggy to Professor Oak, feeling the Pokémon would be happier there, and Oak would have a Unova Pokémon to study, but the little guy had refused, and slowly but surely went from an infant who was all bark and no bite, into a Pokémon with a lot of bark and considerable bite. Scraggy was the only Pokémon Ash had acquired in the region of Unova, the poison of his obsession for victory quickly clouding him from collecting new members for his team. Ash regretted not having a Pokémon that was Scraggys' age around, a childhood friend would have done him good but Ash never took the time to find a Pokémon of that age group. Bringing him back to Oak's lab sure gave the Pokémon a lot of friends now, but the earliest days of his childhood would always have that unique kind of loneliness to them. He'd never be able to recall days spent playing with other children, and the very earliest friendships that would have included, the predecessors and training for friendships of later life, the ones Scraggy would do best to hang on to, better than his trainer had. Ash hoped that his foolishness would not have any long time effects on his youngest Pokémon, but he would make sure that if there were problems, he'd fix them. He'd not let anyone he cared about make his mistakes.

In time his team had become filled with older members. Snorlax first, when he'd needed his sturdiness to help win a battle. Then Totadile when a Water Pokémon had become necessary (Totadile volunteered himself), and when Ash found his way to Driftveil he'd called upon Sceptile, wanting to just to get into the gym, get a badge and go. Slowly but surely Ash's 'victory six' had been gathered, with Charizard being the last to arrive in the final stretch; training for the championship.

When the training phase had come Ash had tried to convince Scraggy to go to Professor Oak or Juniper (or be released if he wanted), he didn't want to hurt his youngest Pokémon but Scraggy had outright refused, head-butting him just to get Ash to drop the subject. He was young, but his spirit, that alone had pushed Scraggy up into the levels of power that the rest of the team had rising to. It was true, that even now, he was the 'weakest' of the team in matters of physical power, but that didn't matter. He had something that no-one else had, he was unbreakable. He'd gone up against Pokémon stronger, faster and more experienced in the championship and beat many of them down, simply because he refused to give in until he'd been knocked out, and that always took great effort to do. He'd taken heavy injuries, severe burns, potent poisonings but he never stopped fighting, even if Ash tried ordering him too. All this had culminated in the final match, in Scraggy's finest hour.

Cynthia had pitted her Spiritomb against Scraggy, and it was a mostly one-sided struggle. Spiritomb was like a phantom, one place one second and another the next, launching attack after attack in rapid and vicious succession. The number of hits Scraggy managed to land had been small, but each one had left their mark, but it had not been enough. It seemed to be certain defeat for the fighter until that moment, where Scraggy had gone from just a little frustrated at his predicament to absolutely _pissed_.

Spiritomb had started laughing at him, and that proved to be the biggest mistake it had made in its life. (assuming a ghost has such a thing) One second he'd been facing a Scraggy that was proving to be little more than target practice. The next, Scraggy had turned the tables in the most effective manner he could think of.

He'd evolved, and the newly-evolved and absolutely furious Scrafty didn't wait for orders before attacking. Scrafty suddenly vanished, a Faint Attack throwing Spiritomb against a wall before he'd thrown himself at the stunned ghost, delivering a brutal payback and sinking his teeth and smashing his head into whatever part of Spirtomb he could reach along with whatever else he could throw at the ghost (which turned out to be a lot, Charizard had given Scrafty extensive lessons in creative brutality). After several minutes of the beating Scrafty emerged from a crater in the wall holding his broken foe over his head and throwing it to the ground. Evolution had boosted his powers to greater heights, and also managed to boost his ego, as the second he'd finished with his opponent he cast Cynthia a distinct hand gesture.

It was clear that Ash had built an interesting team. Both in abilities and personalities.

It took five minutes to gather his team for the picture, another twenty to decide on a pose, another ten to get everyone to agree to it, and another half an hour for the sketch to be drawn to Tracy's satisfaction. Tracey would draw many copies of that picture, and eventually the copies would find themselves in many interesting places as time went by. Ash would one day own the original, and he'd keep it framed upon his wall, until the time it became an heirloom, to forever be treasured by future generations of the Ketchum family.

Now if only Ash could mend fences with a certain potential future wife.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty carefully placed the jacket in first, before the signature hat was placed atop it. She nodded to herself before placing the lid upon them for the umpteenth time. She slid the box under her bed, as always she did. Many a time the box had been placed under the bed, many times had it been extracted, a cycle carried out over the years.

She'd been...shaken, by today's revelations. Delia's words resonated with Misty far deeper than they were likely intended to, because the resentment she held now had been building up far longer than Ash's abandonment of his friends and family.

Leaving Ash behind had been the hardest thing she had ever done (Brock had admittedly been easier to leave, but still hard). Even leaving home the first time was easy by comparison, but she felt like she owed the place she resided in now. It was the gym her parents had handed down to their daughters, though long before they originally intended to do so. If her sisters were not going to protect their legacy, she had to. Still, even with her reason it had been hard. She handled herself well, in retrospect. Sure, she'd been parted from her love, but she was sure that she would never be replaced, never forgotten, and one day they would travel together again, and everything would fall back into place. She hadn't been even the slightest bit worried.

Then not even a week had passed, and she received news of May.

For the first time in a very long time, Misty had cried herself to sleep. All that time, the adventures they had, the things they did, and in no time at all Ash had put a new girl on his arm, leaving her quite unneeded. She'd needed some time before she was ready to face Ash again after that, she'd gone a few weeks without answering his calls, feeding him excuses through other means of communication. Directly talking to Ash had become out of the question for a while _"__How dare he!__"_ had been her way of thinking for a while. That troubled time had forced her to do some growing up, but not quite so much that she was completely unaffected the next time she got wind of a new girl. It had affected her far less, but given that by this time her sisters had returned, she was saddened that Ash had not asked her to travel with him to Sinnoh. Her love for him had been a great source of pain as a result of this. On some subconscious level she thought if May was a replacement for her, then Dawn was Ash moving on. Step by step, Ash seemed to be moving through potential lovers, getting further away from the one who'd been there since the start, waiting. His continued travels had been the source crude awakenings to her childhood dreams. She eventually realized how foolish she had been, but alas a broken heart was prone to foolishness. Still, some small part of her could not let help feel she had been cheated.

Alright...more than a small part.

Then, the process started. Truth be told, they had been communication with less meaning and frequency long before Ash had stepped foot in Unova. It was unusual by then if they had a call more than once a month, their conversations lasting often little more than half an hour, or the rarer full hour calls. Though infrequent, there was at least enjoyment in their talks, and she would admit there was still the occasional moment where, in brief fragments of a call, it was like old times again. But then came Unova, and what was already starting to slip away soared far beyond her reach.

She'd dismissed the first worry that struck her when she heard Ash was travelling in Unova, in retrospect that was foolish. For the first time (since his first day), Ash had been truly travelling alone (aside from Pikachu), and she had wondered if that would have some kind of ill effect on him. She'd laughed it off _"__This is Ash we're talking about__"_ had been her exact phrasing on the matter. She thought him unshakeable, unchangeable. She expected that eventually, Ash would simply show up again, completely the same as before, if somewhat older.

Clearly she had been wrong. She did not question Delia's decision to simply forgive and forget, that was her business, and she respected her mother figure enough to trust her to make the right choices, and she had been right in what she said; Misty was no mother, though if life had gone down the path she wanted, a certain Grandmaster would eventually have changed that. The real path however had been far less clear cut, and if Misty were honest with herself, and she was going to have to be, she'd admit she was rather bitter about the whole affair. Simply being left behind had not sat well with her, it had not sat well with any of Ash's group of friends but she had been most restless with it of all. She was the first to stand beside him, she cared about him the most, and she'd found herself the first on the path to being let go. She needed time to think, to reflect, and reminders of Ash were not helping. She needed to think alone, and clearly.

Tonight, she decided, she would sleep without Ash's mementos.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Pikachu, fresh from his battle with another bottle of ketchup (with another flawless victory against his favourite food item) entered Ash's room, ready to call it a night. It was long past midnight, but that was nothing. He and Ash had long since gotten used to being up at all hours of the night, it's how they did things. Get up whenever, train and fight until they fell for the day, sleep as long as necessary. Consistency in sleep times was a foreign concept to Pikachu now. He looked up to the bed to see Ash had long departed into slumber, he taking better to this old lifestyle of consistency in sleep patterns better than Pikachu was. He jumped onto the bed, about to pick out an area to sleep in when he suddenly noticed Ash had not bothered to change out of his jacket tonight (that had happened often in their travels). That wasn't what caught Pikachu's eye, however. After seeing Ash today he finally understood the meaning of the pose he'd often found his best friend sleeping in, and was doing so again now.

He remembered all the times he'd seen Ash sleeping like that. The position varied over time. Sometimes on his back, others on his side, but one thing was always the same. Pikachu had first suspected that his trainer might be suffering some kind of illness, but asking about any pain, and Ash's continued health after that threw that theory out the window. Still, Pikachu had wondered. He'd never got the chance to look inside that pocket however, and eventually even he, like Ash, was too focused on victory to wonder about anything else. Today he had seen just what was in that pocket, and why his friend had clung so desperately to it. Even now, Ash slept that way, and even now he could not realize what he was doing.

Forever clutching his heart.

XXXXXXXXXXX

End of Chapter

XXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Notes: A considerable delay I know, but I pretty much started the book on a whim, not something I like to do so I've needed to put some serious thought into where to go with this. I'm liking the situation I have set up, it's just deciding how much to explore it. So I'm gonna let you make some suggestions, it's not a vote or anything, but I want your thoughts on the book and where it could go.

I could simply just explore things between Ash and his friends, how bit by bit things will be put back together. Will have its ups and downs, emotional moments, drama and so forth. Or I could make it more in depth, and explore Ash more, and having him coming to terms with that he has done, and has become (I've got some points to explore there). I'd also explore his adjusting to and restoring his old life, which is his path to happiness in case that wasn't obvious already, and what he will do now that his dream has been fulfilled. It'd be an interesting character study for him I think. What's Ash without the need to strive to become a Pokémon Master anymore? I know I'm far from the first to experiment with such a thing, but every author has their own way of looking into that question.

As I said; it's my decision on where the story goes, but I'd like your thoughts, so feel free to dump 'em in reviews.


	4. Gazing At The Past

Author's notes: Well the rewrite is finally finished. For those who suffered the original, hope this closes the wound. And for those who didn't, well congrats, you evaded a rather faulty piece of writing.

To anyone who caught the fiasco: Consider things 'back to normal'. Sooner than I would have predicted, actually.

Enjoy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash's eyes opened. He probed his hazy mind for a moment, trying to figure out why he felt such a sense of dread, which involved trying to figure out things that could actually make him feel dread. Was he lost in the middle of nowhere (it really sucked when on your own) again? Nope, he was home. Laundry day? Nope, he was home now, that was taken care of. Was he out of food supplies? Nope, home again. Were any of his Pokémon in a medical emergency? Nope, all his Pokémon but Pikachu were at Oak's lab. They were fine. Was he spending another day on his own? Well, you think he'd be used to that by-

"Oh crap." It was today. The day he had to go to Celadon.

He forced himself into a sitting position, yawning. _"This is not going to be a fun day."_ He sighed. So very few actually were anymore. Actually, when was the last time he spent a day having _fun_?

He got out of bed.

He took a few moments to find his essentials (clothing, and, well that was all he really cared about). He was just about to head to the bathroom for a shower when his foot kicked against something. He looked down, it was his bag. He gave it a look for a moment, considering something.

He nodded to himself, leaning down to seize it before removing something, and in a moment he'd felt that familiar fabric. He looked at it for a moment, feeling a jab in his heart for his trouble but he wanted to do this. He opened his Jacket's heart pocket, placing the folded handkerchief in with the lure. It hurt, to see two reminders, two _gifts_ from her but somehow it felt right to have them together. They belonged together. Like him in a battle. Like Charizard and his family. Like him and Pikachu. Like him and Mist-

"Chu..."

His head snapped to attention, losing all trail of thought. Pikachu was still asleep, but muttering about something (he could make several educated guesses as to what). He considered going over to poke his friend awake, but then he remembered their little...game.

Well, it wasn't so much a game as a small war. It'd started sometime in Unova, and whoever launched the first strike was a fact long forgotten. Ash and Pikachu, two fighters in a pointless conflict. The only rule was: Fight only on days when there was somewhere on the 'to go' list. Last time Pikachu had been the one to seize a victory, but today...

Today it was Ash's turn. He grinned, taking a few moments to leave the room, and return with a small bucket filled to the brim with cold water. He'd soak his bed but it would be _worth it_. Last time, Pikachu shocked him, and he'd ended up smacking his head on a low tree branch. The result: a day-long headache and numbness in the specific area where Pikachu had shocked him. It became one of those days he was glad he was travelling alone.

It was true: Revenge was a meal best served _cold_. Or in this case, a _drink_ served _ice cold._

"GOOD MORNINGGGGGG PIKACHU!"

It was the final round in their conflict. It was the end of their 'wakeup call war'. Delia had not taken kindly to wet sheets. Now _that_ was a face far closer to what he would have expected when he came back home.

"_Still worth it."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty double-checked herself in the mirror, clean teeth? Check, clean face? Check. Hair? Ah, she'd yet to fix her side ponytail. She blindly reached down, finding the band which kept her hair in place when her eyes caught something in the mirror.

It was a framed photograph. Of herself, Brock and Ash, back when they were still travelling as a group. Ash, the foundation of the group of three was in the middle, grinning along with Pikachu who'd taken a place on his hat. He had an arm wrapped around the neck of Brock and herself (she was holding Togepi, oh how she missed her first 'baby'...), who were on either side. She remembered taking that picture, well, Delia insisting they pose while she took the picture. Clearly Ash making such close friends meant a lot to her, and it meant a lot to them as well.

Ash's grin was matched only by those he was holding close, even though they were pulled down a bit both herself and Brock considered it one of the best pictures they'd ever taken. It was just _them_. Three great friends travelling the world. Those were the days...

Days long since gone. Now there was only an uncertain future, one only recently made slightly less so.

Misty had made her decision.

She would not pursue Ash. She'd done that for the longest time and look where it gotten her. She deserved better than that, and Ash didn't deserve the effort she could spend going to him. She'd not let herself wander into his life again only to find herself shut out again eventually. She'd not go to him, but if he ever came to her, then she'd open her door for him. She'd let him in, and if he had something to say worth hearing then she'd let him into her life again. They would be friends once more. After a good, long beating of course (her mallet was always ready and waiting).

As for what she really wanted them to be...well, one thing at a time.

She fixed her signature side ponytail, ready to make the most of her day off. She was leaving the gym in her sister's charge today, not that they had to battle. They had a show today, but she wasn't interested. A happy Azurill had bounced away from Misty when the three sisters started preparing for the day, the child had such an affinity for her sister's shows, especially when Misty took part in them (it happened now and then), so her baby would be staying home, leaving Misty to her carry out her day plan alone.

She had to get to Celadon. It would be good to see May again, and finally meet Dawn in person. She'd only ever really talked to Dawn over the phone, it was a sad thing that her group of friends were so often separated by distance, but even across the distances they kept themselves together.

Most had anyway. It was sad how the very person who'd brought them all together was the one who'd they'd all lost contact with.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash walked into the fields of Oak's lab with a grin, quickly locating a certain family of fire types. Little Ash quickly ran up to his namesake and found himself swept up into a hug, all the while said namesake moved closer to Charizard and Charla with a slightly nervous grin.

"Hey Charla, Ash, mind if I steal daddy away for a while? I really need a ride to Celadon City and well, nothing's faster than 'air Charizard'."

Charizard gave an amused grunt, before moving in to nuzzle his mate, an action which was eagerly returned. Little Ash made his opinion known. "Charmander!" Charizard smiled, leaning down to nuzzle his son, who his namesake had outstretched. Little Ash hugged his father's face, making his namesake smile. Never would he had expected his Charizard capable of being so gentle. After a moment the child was content, for now, and signalled he was ready to be put down. He ran to his mother, as his father got into a position that signalled he was ready when his trainer was.

"Hey, Ash!"

Ash turned to see. "Tracey, hey! Just picking up Charizard. I need a ride to Celadon."

"Celadon? What do you need to-" It was then Tracey remembered something. "The contest?-OH!"

"Yeah..." Ash fidgeted slightly, former friends were not a pleasant topic, simply because they were _former_. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen, right?" He walked up to Charizard, quickly taking his position on his back (Pikachu already on Ash's shoulder, clutching his hair, just in case). "Alright, Charizard, time for us to get moving!"

Well, almost. "Wait, Ash! You're not going in disguise?"

"Disguise? Why would I go in disguise?"

Tracey just barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes, Ash was never going to outgrow being dense. "You're the Pokémon Grandmaster! If people see you in public you won't get five seconds to yourself. Get a disguise or something!"

Ash waved a hand, wanting the topic over. "Alright, alright, I got something for that." He looked down at his current mode of transport. "Hey, Charizard. Quick stop at home first, then onwards to Celadon!" Charizard started flapping his wings, almost instantly putting ten feet between his feet and the ground, stopping for a moment to growl out a goodbye to his family. Ash gave his friend a wave. "See you later, Tracey!"

"Good luck, Ash!"

They'd be in Celadon in just under an hour. Charizard really was unmatched in air speed. It was just a matter of Ash managing not to throw up at full speed. Many a Pidove had been the unfortunate victims of Ash's failed training sessions in this regard. Better them than Charizard though.

Charizard had made it perfectly clear he'd drop Ash if _he'd_ been the victim of Ash failing to control his bodily functions. Which meant he had to prevent more than _just_ throwing up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tracey was an absolute _genius_.

That's what Ash would have told you in this moment had you asked him. Ash had initially shrugged off the idea of hiding himself in public, but out of a mixture of respect and guilt he took his friend's advice, and what could be the harm? He collected a cloak from home (bought and used in Unova, to use against a mixture of weather conditions and having to talk to people more than need be.). The cloak was rather simple in design. Light brown, with a hood to cover his head, and the cloak itself went down to just below his knees. It didn't have anything in the ways of zippers or openings (except some small pocket-like holes near the waist, so he could reach for his Pokeballs, inside his jacket pockets and such) so he had to pull it over his head to wear it. The cloak also came with sleeves so it was rather comfortable and practical (also roomy), and boy was Tracey right.

He'd _needed_ it.

As he walked through the streets of Celadon, Ash was almost overwhelmed. All around him people were _still_ fawning over the new Grandmaster (randomly flicking through TV channels only showed him so much, but it would be a while before an hour passed when he _wasn't_ on TV. Re-runs of his battles at the championship would be on one channel or another for months.). He passed by restaurants, stores and random groups of people, and nearly everywhere he went he was the topic of their conversation, of the magazines in the stores (he'd dared not even _think_ about what was in most of them) and he even saw a billboard advertising some Pokémon League related thing with **his** face on it.

The cloak was his shield. With it he was just another person, albeit with a Pikachu on his shoulder but thankfully no one had made the connection yet, though he'd chosen to move carefully when cries of "isn't that Pikachu cute?" reached his ears, lest he draw too much attention to himself. They'd both almost voided their bowels when someone spoke of how Pikachu looked "like the Grandmaster's Pikachu". Fortunately Ash's shoulder, cloak and nose had been spared. As had Ash's pants.

It was actually weirder for Pikachu, because wherever Ash's image was, _his_ was with it. What was he, Ash's mascot?

Ash moved slowly through this new world. Half in something akin to fear, half to just stop and sample the strange wonder. When he'd left Kanto last time he was just another stranger (with some accomplishments to his name), now he was Kanto's biggest name. He was..._famous_. More than that he was perhaps the definition of fame. He'd come across some big names in his travels, but now he was more famous than them all. He used to be just a no-one. Another face in the crowd that was the world, wanting to be noticed by all. Now he hid his face, taking precautions to not be noticed. This was everything he had worked for. He had seized the Holy Grail.

But he did not seek to drink.

Standing here, at the top now, he found himself thinking thoughts he'd have never dreamed of. Okay, he was Grandmaster, but what was the big deal? Why did everyone suddenly want to know him? Why was he was expected to sell himself to the public? Make appearances, meet other celebrities, interact with people who otherwise he'd have nothing to do with? Why couldn't people just settle with the fact he was the best and leave him be? _"I'm not really that special."_ He dared to take a glance at the window of a store, but no magazine there really said anything about _him_. He frowned. Where was the magazine that with an article on what it was like trying to wake him up in the morning? The one that gave an honest look at his eating habits and mannerisms? He saw one magazine promising a detailed analysis of his battles at the championship, but where was the one saying how he'd trained for it? The things he had gone through to get there? The bonds he had with his Pokémon?

Where was the one that said what he did to any who were foolish enough to be his friend? The one that revealed what a bad son was? Where was _he_ among everything that bore his image? Because he did not see himself there. A nice ideal perhaps, but someone who might as well have been a stranger to him. This ideal was that of someone who'd almost magically appeared out of nowhere and taken it all. Nowhere was there details of just how he'd done so. Nowhere was the account documenting every step of the struggle, and who'd endured it with him. Had no-one been paying attention? Had no-one noticed those he'd travelled with on his journey? Two of which were currently in this city for crying out loud! The ones he'd travelled with, they were the ones the _real_ Ash Ketchum could have been exposed by. Yet no one had seen fit to ask them.

The world had become...so surreal to Ash. He trudged on, every step taking him further into this strange, strange new world. He walked on a bit faster, still catching snippets of conversation about _the Grandmaster_, that wonder of a young man. Brilliant, noble, selfless and fearless. The one without weakness, without fault, the one all aspired to be or be with. A living standard of perfection.

No, they were not talking about _him_. _He_ was none of those things.

Ash came to a stop when he arrived at a park, and saw something which caught his interest. A battle (a good one could almost always catch his eye), but this was not a high class battle. No, something _else_ got his attention. It was between two children, a one-on-one battle by the looks of it. To his left Ash saw one child was using a Machop, which at a glance Ash could tell had been through some training, but not too much. It was his opponent that caught Ash's eye. A little boy, younger than his opponent clearly. It was how the boy stood that interested him, how he composed himself.

How he used a Pikachu for the battle. It was like gazing back in time. Put his old jacket and hat on the kid and you'd almost have a miniaturized version of a ten year old Ash. The battle had been in play for some time, if the Pokémon were any indication, the Pikachu was panting, exhausted. This would seem to be a done battle to all but the most trained eye, and very few were as trained as Ash's were. He knew the look in the eyes of that Pikachu and his trainer to know he wouldn't back down. This battle would seem to have been far from over, but when the Pikachu's trainer suddenly grinned Ash knew that the ending was about to come.

Ash smiled. _"This is gonna be good."_ Pikachu did too, his thoughts along the same line.

"I'll show you! Me and Pikachu are gonna be the best! Just like Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu!" Ash couldn't repress the very strange sensation that coursed through his spine at that (Pikachu didn't even bother trying). This kid actually wanted to be like him! That was gonna take some serious getting used to. "Pikachu! Get up close with Agility!"

"Pika!" The Pikachu moves swiftly, each step met with a 'pika' of effort. Quickly the mouse Pokémon got closer to his opponent.

A foolish mistake. "Karate Chop, Machop!" Machop formed his hand into a make-shift blade, ready to deliver the final blow. Pikachu's trainer had cost his Pokémon the battle.

Or so it would have seemed. "Pikachu! Uproar! The Pikachu opened its mouth and screamed, the sheer force and volume forcing Machop to flinch and grab his ears, stopping his attack. Which was all the stall time Pikachu required. "Electro Ball!"

The Pikachu pulled back his tail for a moment, his body briefly crackling with sparks before a small sphere of electrical power formed near the tip of the tail. The Pikachu slammed its tail, the energy along with it right into his opponent's face, the backlash of the attack knocking both Pokémon back from the force of the attack. Both Pokémon attempted to get up, but Pikachu's last attack had taken a toll on both of them.

It was a draw. Ash resisted to urge to clap, not wanting to disturb the children. That had been some pretty good thinking for a child. However, his opponent didn't feel the same way.

"Well you still haven't _beat_ me yet. You'll never be Grandmaster." With that the boy walked off, with Ash resisting the urge to challenge the little brat and beat some humility into him and his Machop, but he had a more intriguing thing to address. He walked up to the child, who was currently tending to his Pikachu.

"He's a jerk, Pikachu, don't listen to him. He's just jealous that he's older than me but I'm as good as he is."

Ash reached the child, not bothering to greet him before speaking. "You'd have done better to use Electro Ball in tandem with agility. Electro Ball gets stronger the faster its user is moving ya know."

The boy looked up, intimidated by the tall, cloaked figure that had just waltzed up to him and started talking. Ash paid his reaction no mind (he'd gotten too used to such reactions). His Pikachu jumped down, walking up to the other Pikachu to offer some words of encouragement. "Also, using Electro Ball like that, pretty good for inflicting heavy damage, but it takes a while for the Pokémon using it to get the hang of _not_ getting hurt when trying that." Ash looked down at his own Pikachu. "Like my Pikachu did."

"Your Pikachu?" The boy suddenly gasped, that voice! "You're-"

"Shhhhh." Ash shifted his hood slightly, giving the child and his Pikachu alone a view of his face before he winked. "You got talent kid, and guts. You're a lot like me when I started out. Don't give up. Get strong, you and your Pikachu, and when you do come find me." Ash grinned. "And remember to teach your Pikachu Iron Tail, and let's see if he can cross tails with my Pikachu."

The boy was utterly floored, the Grandmaster was speaking to him! The Grandmaster was speaking to **him**! He could only nod stupidly, grinning like an idiot. To Ash it really was like looking at a younger version of himself. Ash smiled. "Keep my advice in mind. I'll see you in battle someday."

Ash's Pikachu gave the boy's a grin of his own. "Pika chu pi chu, pi chu ka?" _I won't hold back, you got that?_

The Pikachu grinned, but like his owner was a little too shocked to say anything. Pikachu really did carry one amazing reputation among his kind (that were owned by trainers) now.

Ash held out an arm, and his trusted friend hopped onto his shoulder, he turned around, but turned his head back. "What's your name, kid?"

"Uh, Michael. Michael Ryde."

Ash slowly nodded. "I'll be keeping an eye out for that name. Kick some ass, kid." Ash walked away, smiling to himself. Truth be told there wasn't much he was liking about his station so far. Fans everywhere, constantly wanting to hound him. His face on every TV, magazine and **billboard** (he was still working through that one) his eyes could find. Not to mention every news station and company wanting to use him to boost their ratings/sales. No, there wasn't much he was _liking_, but having children look up to him, and wanting to follow in his footsteps gave him was an interesting feeling.

Helping those children on their way down said path, yeah, that he liked. He wondered for a moment if that boy's journey was going to be anything like his own when he finally started. The life and death situations he'd find himself in, the occasional 'save the world' job he'd been handed, the age-defining battles, and the great friends he'd found on the way...

"_Well if he doesn't screw up the last part he'll be fine."_

He stopped and turned to look at Michael when he got far away enough, the boy was just going home. "Good luck, Michael."

As he watched the child go, his Pikachu standing on his shoulder, he couldn't help but see someone else in his place. A boy in an official Pokémon League hat, a blue jacket and a head full of a simple, innocent dream..._"When did I stop...being like him?"_ Ash Ketchum, that little boy from Pallet town hardest head and biggest heart around. _That_ wonder of a boy. That noble, selfless, fearless, _amazing_ young boy.

He turned once more and walked, he could not stand to see even the image of his ten year old self.

_That_ Ash Ketchum would judge him harsher than anyone, except perhaps himself...

"_When did I stop being him?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As it turned out, getting into the audience of a Pokémon contest was extremely easy, even if you were hidden in a cloak. Ash had worried he'd be forced to reveal himself but he'd been spared that horror. He sat in a corner, way at the back, trying his best to (as usual for him now) to avoid strangers. Pikachu masked his pained look. There was a time Ash liked to be around crowds, around new people, but now he'd go out of his way to avoid them, even suffering inconveniences if need be (he'd once delayed entering a city for a gym battle for three days due to some festival, and the nights out in the wilderness had been absolutely _freezing_). Pikachu'd had a spark of hope when Ash had talked to Michael, a hope that maybe he was starting to break out of his shell, but the second Ash suddenly paused at seeing the size of the crowd that was coming to watch that hope had gone down the throat of a Muk. Pikachu knew all too well that if this wasn't so important to Ash he'd have walked away. Fortunately this was important, but he swept inside the building as fast as he could, talking only to purchase his entrance into the contest (after his little visit to a bank cash machine...Ash never did tell him how much in Ketchup that amount was.)

Pikachu made a makeshift seat for himself (sitting on Ash's shoulder and leaning against the back wall). They were going to be here a long while. He smiled, at least he'd get to see some old friends today and if all went well Ash would have some old friends back. He turned to look at Ash, but his hood obscured him, Pikachu hated that thing! Often was he and Ash could read one another near perfectly with little more than a look, the hood negated that outright. Pikachu could not completely quell the irrational fear, the fear that sometimes Ash wore that to shut _him_ out along with the rest of the world, but then Ash would strike up conversation, or reach up at seemingly random times to pet his friend, and he'd stop worrying.

"_Ah, perfect timing."_ Pikachu gave a contented sigh as Ash's hand found the underside of his chin and started scratching. _"I should get his mom to pet me more..."_ Ash withdrew his hand _"Hey!"_, before it returned with something even better than a petting. "Chaa!" _Thanks!_

"What bottle are you up to, anyway?"

"Chu ka." _Lost count. _Ash chuckled.

In the various rows before him people were gathering, taking seats and getting hyped up for the battles to come. It was to be quite a day. Ash never paid the people even the slightest mind, if he had he'd might have noticed something. Might have, but from his vantage point he could see the entire ring, he had no reason to even shift his head and he would not do so for the entire contest.

Ash would never angle his vision just slightly to his left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty took a careful look around, quickly settling into a seat, the crowds were starting to really file in now, but she managed to find herself a spot near the front before things got too bad, she wanted to her friends to see her cheering them on.

She never took a look behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The appeal rounds had been something, Ash didn't really see what the big deal was about contests these days but he had to admire some of the pretty combinations that he'd seen taken place. May and Dawn had passed the appeal rounds easily (naturally), and one by one the battles had taken place, quickly filing off lesser contestants.

Ash was grateful for the five minute set time limit in each match. Battles that dragged on really did take up the time that other fighters could use in the ring. Pikachu's fight against Cynthia's Garchomp _alone_ had taken what felt like forever to end. No, this was simpler, not as exciting in the same way the Championship had been, but when beauty was the goal it created it's own distinct charm. Ash very much doubted he could do the whole contest scene now, his Pokémon were warriors, not showmen, and he himself no longer had the mentality to even try and make a battle look good. He'd be very out-of-place in a contest now.

He signed, and smiled. No matter, because two people who were very much in place in the contest world were taking the stage. The final match had come, May against Dawn. Now this is what he'd come to see. He didn't want to pick favourites in this one, but currently it was 2:1 to Dawn (or 1:0 if you don't count a draw)...hey, gotta be fair. "Good luck, May."

"Ka Pikaka!" _Go Dawn!_

Well at least Ash didn't have to feel bad now. Now both girls had somebody cheering for them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash would never again find an interest in contests. But he'd _always_ enjoy a good battle, and that had been one great fight. Both Pokémon still stood at the end of it, and it was again up to the judges who would win (maybe next time one of the Pokémon would actually faint, Ash secretly hated victories decided by judges, they were just so damn cheap to him). It was an agonizingly long minute before the winner was declared.

_May_

The crowd erupted with applause as May jumped for joy, finally the score was even!

Up in the stands Ash clapped, a grin on his face. "They really are great." Again he couldn't quite stop a surge of emotion, guilt be dammed!

He really was proud of them both.

Ash didn't pay much attention through the ceremony (he hadn't paid attention to his own, actually...did they even give him a trophy? Nope, he'd have taken it home with him. He'd wonder about why there was no trophy eventually). He did smile, even if he wasn't paying attention. His two (former) friends were well on their way to achieving their dreams, how could he _not_ be happy for them? He just wished he'd paid more attention to them along the way. Well no matter what happened he was going to keep careful watch on them as time passed, and whether or not they wanted him to, he'd be watching when they finally reached their dreams.

He didn't have the slightest doubt that they would.

Eventually the ceremony ended, and row by row the rows of spectators cleared out, Ash remaining in place until he had a clear path out. In all that time he didn't pay even the slightest bit of attention to the moving crowd.

Nor did any member of the crowd pay attention to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two years alone can teach you a lot of things, it can teach you to wait, to think, to have patience. Ash never would have thought he'd learn these traits, but alas there he was, biding his time carefully. Crowds had been heavy once the contest was over, alive with the buzz of what they had all witnessed. Ash had quickly, and stealthily retreated from the reach of the crowd, partly because he didn't like crowds, partly because they already had enough to talk about without knowing the Grandmaster was among them.

He'd watched carefully, and eventually his goals had emerged. They'd both been hounded by adoring fans for a while, but that passed, now both were finally in a (relatively) crowd less street. It'd taken a while, but finally both May and Dawn were alone, pretty much. There were people around, but none were interacting with the pair, one of which was looking slightly more giddy than the other, but restraining herself. Ash took in a breath. _"This I can do. They got off lightly next to..."_ He released his breath. _"Well this is pretty much as __good as I'll get. If I don't get lucky here then I have no chance anywhere else."_

He removed the hood of his cloak, he'd do this face to face, no deceptions. He took another breath and prepared to move forward. He needed to do this while he still had his nerve. He took a step forward, then another, before finding his strength and taking more.

Before one sound took it all away from him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"May! Dawn!"

Misty ran with a spring in her step, dear Arceus it was hard to keep track of two mini-celebrities in a crowd but Misty was nothing if not determined, and at last she had found them. Now it was time to spend a day with old friends.

"Misty!" Both May and Dawn waved her over, and finally the three were together. Today was going to be a great day, a wonderful day, without the single slightest worry or concern.

Save for one.

"IT'S ASH KETCHUM!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From the second he heard her voice, from the second his mind processed the fact that _she_ was _here_. From the second he understood, he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't do a thing. Then he saw her, and gasped, she really was here. He was mesmerized, watching her every step, taking in her every detail. Her face, her hair, her _smile_, her _eyes._

_Misty_

He thought someone might have said his name...he wasn't sure. All he knew is that somehow, the unthinkable happened. The impossible. The one thing he dreaded, and longed for at the same time.

She looked at him.

May and Dawn had too, but all he could see, all her could perceive was her. His blood froze. His heart stopped, his world was suspended in time. For just this moment there was only him and her.

So many emotions burst through him at once he couldn't process them normally. One instant there was glee, it was Misty! Then shame...it was Misty. He wanted to run to her. He wanted to run away. He wanted to fall to his knees before her and say he was sorry. He wanted to shut her out, so he'd never have to face the wrath he knew he deserved. As he looked at her his world was knocked out of orbit, all because of what he saw.

He saw it in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Ash_

She almost smiled. She almost frowned. She almost jumped for joy. She almost ran over and started screaming at him. She wanted to hold him. She wanted to start breaking his bones. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to shut him out, so maybe he would know what it was like to be abandoned. All these emotions were made all the more confusing by what she saw.

She saw it in his eyes. Those wonderful eyes...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

No. This was...

He couldn't do it. He could have faced May and Dawn, but not her.

Not _Misty_...

His heart clenched, actually causing him real pain as the weight of his own feelings rammed into his chest. He almost moved his hand to reach for his heart, but the vision of what was _in front_ of it stopped him, why couldn't he just move those memories away from his heart? Shame nailed him to the spot and strangled his heart tighter and tighter. This was all his fault, this pain, the way things were, but somehow, it was only in this moment that perhaps the worst fact of all delivered the final blow to him. He knew that in the end they'd simply ceased talking. That he knew...

But he didn't know who'd stopped talking first.

He'd give anything to change things...but he had nothing that was near valuable enough to trade for that wish. He couldn't take his eyes from hers...he didn't know what to do. He tried, but he couldn't think of what to do...

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" _RUNNNNNNNNNNN!_

Of course...

That was what he should do.

He turned, running from the growing crowd with all the strength his body could give him. Running from _her_ with all the strength he could find. His mind processed the hoard of fans only as obstacles, ones he shifted quickly to avoid.

He had to get away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She watched him go. She watched as his form was pursued by the growing crowd. She watched as he ran. She watched as he ran from her. She wasn't sure what she should have felt, but her mind was too curious to be restrained by feelings.

"_What are you doing here, Ash?"_

Her heart stung. Well it couldn't have been for her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He was running.

He was gonna keep on running. Until his feet bled, until his legs broke, no, even if they did he wasn't gonna stop running! He wanted to, no he _needed_ to keep on running! He couldn't face her again. He couldn't see what he had done. He couldn't face those eyes. Those eyes...He shook his head, he couldn't think about that! He kept running, but it wasn't fast enough! He wasn't fast enough! Not nearly enough distance had been put between them, but what did he have that was faster than-?

He reached into his cloak, quickly seizing "Charizard! The Dragon-like Pokémon emerged with a mighty roar, but before he even realized what was going on Ash had jumped onto his back. "Fly!"

Not fully grasping the situation, Charizard rose up anyway, but not too quickly. He took a moment to look at the area around him, a quickly growing crowd of people, due to his trainer most likely. It was understandable he'd been called, his trainer didn't like crowds these days so a retreat was logical, consider they were coming from all directions. He was about to fly off when-Ash's friends! Charizard had come in so late in Ash's Unova tour he didn't know the full story, so he concluded the most logical thing he could. Ash's friends were there, and he hadn't seen them in such a long time. Surely he'd want to greet them/say a proper goodbye at the very least? Charizard flapped his wings, very quickly making the journey to the area just above Ash's (former) friends.

Ash had slammed his eyes shut, so he didn't notice Charizard looking around, but he did notice when Charizard was flying in a direction other than 'up'. He opened his eyes just as Charizard stopped, and found himself looking down at-

It was still there...it was all he could see in her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charizard had stopped above them, and once again Misty found herself looking into _his_ eyes.

It was still there...it was all she could see in his eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Pain_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_"I can't..."_ His eyes stung, but he wouldn't break, he couldn't let himself break. Not in front of her, he didn't have the right to break before her. He didn't have the right to show her pain. Long gone were the times she would help him, that he could go to her for help. A single tear found escape, travelling down the side of his face.

Pikachu looked to his friend sadly, this wasn't going anywhere, especially with the crowds rapidly moving towards them. Ash couldn't do anything, he was too locked in his emotions. Pikachu gently whispered to Charizard.

_Take us home._

Charizard flapped his wings harder, and the three of them rose higher and higher, but still Ash could not look away, could not act, and still the tear crept down his face. Crept further and further down as they rose higher and higher. Misty was getting smaller, further and further away, and soon all he could make out was the familiar shine of her hair.

Still he could not turn away. _"Misty..."_

The tear fell from his face, falling down to the world below.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She felt it, a warm drop fall onto her face. It landed just beside her eye. She somehow knew what it was, and she knew where it had come from. She reached up, claiming the drop of emotion in her hand. _"Ash..."_

He rose, further and further until finally Charizard he was gone. She didn't turn away until Charizard had turned and gone, and she knew Ash hadn't either.

She looked down, her now open hand holding the remains of Ash's tear. It said so much...but so little. He was sorry for what he did, but why did he even abandon her to begin with? He cared about her, but he'd never made any of the efforts she had. He was in pain, but didn't he realize she was too?

He missed her...

...she missed him too.

She closed her hand, letting the tear be split by the fingertips. So warm, so honest was the feeling that spread over her fingertips but she tried to ignore it. She would not let this sway her. She wasn't wrong, she had made the right choice.

Still, she could not silence a pang of guilt, and a second one of pain.

Besides her May and Dawn were ranting to one another about 'that jerk' but Misty didn't care. She could tell that they, like she were masking how they really felt. She didn't blame them, just like she'd never blamed herself. She repressed a sad smirk, even with what Ash had done, and how easy it had seemingly been for him to do so. Even after all that...

Everyone he had abandoned still cared about him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The trip home was mostly uneventful, save for running into a wild, angry Fearow (is there any other kind?). A quick flamethrower took care of that problem. Charizard landed back at Oak's lab, and Ash quickly discovered how little Ash liked to greet his parents when they got back from a trip.

You'd think fire would have affected him, but the bigger Ash merely got down and walked home, stopping to quickly pet little Ash before doing so. He never said a word the entire way home.

Later he sat at the dinner table with his Mom (Mimey tending to the household flower garden, of great personal pride to the Clown-like Pokémon, and Pikachu out "working off some Ketchup", likely by looking for a sparing partner back at the lab, Ash had feeling Scrafty would be the one to take the offer, he was determined to beat Pikachu one day.), and it was an oddly silent affair. Delia knew something was wrong within the first few minutes. Normally by then Ash had emptied his plate, and would be regaling his Mother with whatever story she asked for (she'd seen all his battles at the championship on TV, but she loved it when **he** told her about them. Cameras caught the moves, the action, but she quickly learned that it couldn't capture the feeling, the thoughts, the soul of the trainer at work), but today he was just idly picking at his food, completely silent. Sometimes bothering to consume a bite but he'd quickly regress to his brooding.

Delia took a moment to think, she knew Ash had gone to Celadon today (he said yesterday that's where he'd be going), but he hadn't said _why_. She was unaware of the contest in Celadon, so she had to try and draw her own conclusions. She couldn't think of anything that made real sense (none of Ash's close friends lived in Celadon) so she decided there must have been something she was missing.

What that was however...well she'd have to ask him.

"So how was your day, honey?"

Ash lightly poked his meal before finally letting the fork go, creating a brief clatter as it hit the plate. He was quiet for a moment, and slowly his gaze aimed down, hiding his face beneath his messy hair.

"I...I saw Misty today."

Yes, that would explain it perfectly. Out of all those Ash had...lost touch with in his travels, Misty was the one who was affecting him most. She knew it when she found him...well she was still trying not to think about _that_ memory. She knew it when he'd run off when Misty had called. In a way she was glad, she liked Misty, and she was the only girl (indeed the only person) Delia who'd ever seen that could match Ash's headstrong nature **and** control his ego when need be (which was more often that Delia cared to admit). Ash in turn always made the young maiden's life _fun_. Even when they weren't actually doing anything Misty was never truly bored in his presence, he kept her happy, and she did the same for him. They gave one another strength. Misty lived a rather dull life before and after travelling with Ash, and he did something that Delia felt her sisters never did enough.

He _cared about her_. Even she'd admit Ash wasn't always the best at showing just how much he cared back in the day, but he did show it in subtle ways, little things she (and she hoped Misty) noticed. He'd make her laugh, make her smile. Even while they argued (Delia personally found their arguments entertaining), Ash, as well as Misty always did those very subtle things that meant though they were mad, they still cared about each other. Whether it'd be the look in their eyes, a small hint in their body language, or not taking an opportunity to some something extremely harsh. They always restrained from truly hurting the other, and even if they did accidentally they'd make up in short order. This was made even sweeter to Delia because she had an inkling to just why they argued as much as they did.

It was far easier to ignore your love for someone while arguing with them.

She looked across to her son with a small sad smile, she was sure somewhere along the line things were going to work out, but she hated seeing him like this. Even she would admit her son hadn't been a saint, but he was such a good boy, no, a good young man. He'd never wanted to hurt anyone, he'd just gotten sidetracked, extremely so, but he'd come back the second he was finished with his dream, and he was sorry for what he'd done.

It was good enough for her, she just hoped it would be for everyone else. She didn't want her son in pain.

Oh no. She saw it before he'd even made a sound.

He was crying.

"Oh, baby." She rose up, quickly moving around the table to embrace her son. She felt his tears fall upon her as she clasped him to her.

"She must hate me-" He choked back a sob. _"I'd hate me. I..." _He forced himself further into his Mother's embrace. _"You should hate me."_ He held his mother tighter. She didn't hate him, he didn't understand why, but she didn't, and for that he was never going to be stupid enough to let her go again. He really did have the best mother in the world, not something he felt he deserved but he'd throw away his title before giving her up. He simply let himself weep. Weep for a life that was doomed to be lonely, doomed to be full of regret. A life that would be spent wishing he could take it all back, wishing he could undo his mistakes.

The life he'd _earned_.

Delia held her crying son close, gently whispering to what he needed to know, and she longed he would believe. "She doesn't hate you, Ash. She doesn't. She could never hate you." She continued saying these things to him, hoping that they would break through the veil of sadness that covered his heart.

Ash listened to her words, desperately searing them into his mind. If he tried hard enough, maybe, just maybe he could believe them, If only for the moment. If only for one blessid moment...

For that one moment, everything could be okay.

Delia stroked her weeping son's hair, her thoughts upon the one who had triggered his tears. _"If only you could see him, Misty."_ Her thoughts were of the two, she'd had a feeling about the two since she'd first heard about Misty, and when she met her she'd found herself even hoping it. Now, now she was certain of it, only _she_ had this hold on her son. Only she could affect him this much. They were going to be together...if fate was kind enough. If Misty's heart could still be opened to her son. _"If only he could realize just how much he loves you."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty was laying in bed, Azurill already having long since fallen asleep, but she would be up a little while longer. Her mind was still running through the day. Ash had been in Celadon. He'd come to watch the contest. He'd come to see Dawn and May. He'd come to talk to Dawn and May.

He hadn't come for her.

_That_ hurt. Did she really mean less to him than Dawn and May? She didn't have anything against either of them (she really liked them actually) but...she'd known him longest, she'd spent the most amount of time travelling with him, she _loved_ him. Okay, she would grant that May and Dawn were only in Kanto for the contest, so he'd needed to take the opportunity while he had it (though they both intended to stick in Kanto for a short while together, not that Ash knew that), but she was in reach of Ash _every day_. She was so easily within his (physical) reach, yet he didn't come to her, May and Dawn were further away, yet he'd come to them when an opportunity sprung up. With a sting in her heart she wondered...did he feel something more for one of them?

She dreaded to think about it, so for now she didn't. She continued running through the rest of the day.

The rest of the day after Ash's little show had been fun, a restaurant, then the rest of the day was spent regaling one another with stories of battles/contests fought, with May and Dawn often in hysterics after Misty mentioned her new rule at the gym; challengers pick which Pokémon (out of those that fight, some are there just for performances) will be their opponents.

Many tended to pick the weaker looking Pokémon.

Many also tended to leave with their egos brutally beaten, along with their Pokémon. Only a couple days ago somebody decided to be funny and picked her 'baby' to fight, 'forgetting' Azurill was not one of the 'fighting' Pokémon.

As far as she knew his Pokémon were still in the Pokémon Center. One thing about Misty's 'children', they were forces to be reckoned with. Just like their 'mom' in that respect.

It had really been a fun day, but there was always that subtle shadow cast over them, the shadow named Ash. His presence in the city had been one none had expected yet there he was, and Misty knew Ash enough to conclude that he had come to where May and Dawn were for a reason. She had said nothing about Ash's presence, but she could not shake the memory of...she looked down at her hand...the hand which had held his tear, which created a morbid sense of hope inside Misty's heart.

The tear had been for _her_. She clenched her hand again.

She had made her decision, and she wouldn't let a drop of emotion sway her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A sigh met the sound of Ash falling onto his bed, he was finally ready to call it a day, and what a crappy day it had been. He didn't expect today to be easy, or even pleasant, but damn. Just seeing Misty again, seeing her eyes...

He'd never told her or anyone else (and wasn't planning to), but he'd always liked Misty's eyes. That wonderful green with a subtle touch of blue really captivated him. He guessed there was some fancy name for that color but he never bothered looking it up, and asking someone about it would have likely got him teased for weeks (Brock about a month at least, and Misty herself would have **never** let him live it down). He knew it probably wasn't very manly to like a girl's eyes so much, but he didn't care, he really liked her eyes. He'd heard it said over the years that the eyes were the windows of the soul, well he never thought about it on a deep level, but he knew eyes could tell you a lot if you looked at them.

He'd quickly gotten used to telling when she was angry (like he needed her eyes for that, often his head would be screaming it at him within a few seconds, and not from of a sudden surge of thought), when she was scared (which was funny to him if it was because of Bug Pokémon, though he'd dare not laugh or she'd convert to angry). When she was determined (always an interesting one), happy (always made him happier too), sad (opposite effect of the happy look), when she was thinking, when she was scheming. He was rather skilled in telling how Misty felt when he put his mind to it, and one look at her eyes today told him he'd royally screwed things up.

But there was always one emotion he could never identify, and he'd tried to do so (always getting annoyed when he couldn't). It was a something her eyes only ever held for _him_, it was only prominent rarely, the last time he remembered seeing it was when he'd returned from Hoenn, and she'd been at his house waiting for him. It was a strong emotion whatever it was, but he had no idea and it had bugged him to no end. That wasn't the strangest part, the strangest part was something he intended to take to the grave.

He'd really liked it when her eyes showed him that emotion. Didn't know why, he just did. It gave him this weird feeling inside, it was warm, and it was so comforting, he felt like nothing to could possibly go wrong. It somehow made all the sense in the world, even if he couldn't begin to understand it. He'd gone to sleep smiling many a time because of that feeling.

Perhaps the worst thing about Misty leaving when she did was knowing he'd never see that emotion, never feel that feeling again. He was absolutely ecstatic when he was proven wrong, and when the feeling came back stronger than ever. He'd had to forcibly fight down a sudden urge to...hug her when he saw that emotion again. And not just a normal hug either, he'd wanted to hug her tight and never let go.

There wasn't a chance he'd see it again now...and that made him want to cry.

He closed his eyes, the real world was becoming too much of a hassle, maybe sleep would be kinder to him. Maybe not.

As he slowly felt into a slumber, he couldn't silence his last thought.

As horrible as the day had been...it'd almost been worth it..._"Just to see her eyes again..."_

The darkness grew behind his eyes, even as they became warm with the sadness breaking free from them. He fell asleep, still with the sadness freeing itself from his eyes, contradicted only by the look upon his face.

He was smiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The crowds roared as Grandmaster Ash Ketchum emerged onto the field. It was time for his first title defence, and it was going to be a glorious battle. He was alone, not even Pikachu was with him as he walked out into the field. That didn't matter, he didn't even think about or notice it. The world was darker than normal, and all he could see was a figure coming out of the darkness in front of him, coming to stand face to face with him.

Ash gasped.

A much shorter figure stood in front of him, wearing a signature hat and jacket Ash could have spotted a mile away. The world seemed to almost entirely fade away, there were no crowds cheering, no atmosphere of a battle about to pass. Now there were only the two. Ash...

...and Ash.

The ten year old Ash looked up into the eyes of his older self, angry, enraged even, alive with a fire that burned with more intensity than any sun in the universe, spoke of pain that could fall even the strongest, of loneliness darker than night itself. All this seeped out in a tone with a most venomous fang."What have you done to me?"

_How dare he_

How dare this little brat say that! Ash had spent six years working tirelessly for the dream the boy in front of him had set out to do. Ash had travelled the lands, fought countless battles, shed blood, sweat and tears and taken himself to the breaking point and beyond to do what he did! Didn't he know how much Ash had gone through to earn what he had? Didn't he know how much Ash had sacrificed?

He his ten-year old self didn't have the right to look at him like that!

"I fulfilled your dream! I did what you set out to do! I made you the best there is! I made you the strongest! I made you the greatest Master of them all!"

This did nothing to quell the fire that burned in those younger eyes, instead it only grew, droplets of it escaping as water. "Then why am I so alone?"

The younger Ash clenched his fists, his body shaking from the emotions that were fighting to free themselves. "Why are my friends gone?"

The younger Ash rushed forward, seizing his older self by the collar and both fell back, the ground ceasing to exist as the both continued to fall. Ash could only see the face of his younger self, the rage, the sadness, the fear, the shadows of emptiness...his own eyes. All his mistakes reflected back at him.

"Why do I hate you?"

They fell, into nothingness, into an endless darkness, and all Ash could see was his younger self still grasping him, still asking that question, the only one he'd ever ask.

"Why?"

Falling.

"Why?!"

Falling...

"WHY?"

Falling...

"**WHY?"**

XXXXXXXXXXX

His eyes shot open, but the sounds of his younger voice still reverberated in his mind, casting that unanswered question to all areas of his thought, seeking, demanding an answer.

An answer Ash did not have to give.

He closed his eyes and sighed, before turning over with his eyes open again. It'd be a while before he'd fall asleep again. It was sometime after midnight, but the moon still shone bright through his open window, illuminating many things in the room. His eyes found some trophies, some trinkets of his travels, some choice items that were on display. Then he found something that really caught his attention.

His eyes found a very old framed photograph. Had his mood been lighter he'd have laughed, it was the day he'd set out for his journey. His Mom had made him stand by the fence of Oak's lab and whipped out a camera just before he'd left town, eager to catch the momentous occasion. In the photograph was a ten year old Ash, day one on his journey to become a Master. He was already wearing the rubber gloves his mother had given him, and had Pikachu tied up. The Mouse Pokémon was looking away from the camera, arms crossed and not looking even remotely pleased with the situation. Ash on the other hand was grinning. How long had it been since he'd grinned like _that_? And those eyes, such fire in them, such passion, such innocence in them, such strength and resolve.

When had he lost all that?

Ash took one good look at the picture in the light of the moon, the smiling face of the child he'd long since been...long since left behind...long since abandoned, just like so many others.

"I'm sorry..."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Chapter

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's notes:

Not much of a change I admit, but I removed the needless/dark stuff, and extended some of the good stuff, I figure there might as well be a bonus for you fans who stuck with the book _somewhere_.

'Down the throat of a Muk': My attempt at a Pokémon version of 'down the shitter'. I figure Muk is about the most disgusting Pokémon around, so anything that gets lost in a Muk is not something you want to try getting back.

Last thought:

Notice the tradition in the anime now of the new main female character beating the previous one? Dawn did it to May, now Iris did it to Dawn. Why is it that the writers of Pokémon always seem to say 'up yours' to the previous main female? It really undermines all the episodes the previous main was around (and all the character development involved there). I'd call that bad writing, but my writing is just fan writing. Meanwhile theirs is the writing that still rakes in who knows how much cash. Likely more in a month or two than I will in my lifetime at least.


	5. Fleeting Moments

Author's Notes: Longest chapter yet! Get a cup of coffee or something for this one or you might fall asleep before you get to the good parts.*

This chapter's going to contain a little treat: Ash in battle. Can you honestly not say you're not the slightest bit curious to see how far he came in those two years?

Time for this story to live up to its summary. Time for you to see a little more of how Ash has been changed. Some of you may not like what you find, but unlike the previous chapter's mess up (pre-rewrite, best forgotten) this is an important part of the story.

*Chapter may or may not include any good parts.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was 9AM. Rather early for Ash to be up, but in truth he'd been up since dawn, glancing down at the photograph in his hands, the one that reflected everything so clearly. He'd tried sleeping again, and again, but every time it was the same dream, every time it was the same fall, the same emptiness, the same questions.

He'd given up sleeping when he found himself answering them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Why am I so alone?"_

"Because I deserve to be."

"_Why are my friends gone?"_

"Because I abandoned them."

"_Why do I hate you?"_

"Because you're me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Though one question still echoed in the darkness of his mind...

Ash sat, looking down at the photograph in his hands. How was it that he had lost his way so? Where exactly had it started? Ultimately everything that culminated in Unova, but where had it _begun_? Where was the moment that changed his paths from what he should have been, to what he became? He tried finding a moment, finding some kind of sign that screamed out "right here!" but nothing. There were a thousand little steps along the way, each one taking him closer to the end, but the first step, that first phase. The first domino to fall in the line that lead him to what he was now...

He could not find it. He could not find that moment. The moment which defined when victory became more important to him than his loved ones.

So here he sat, looking down at his past, of his first day, where everything was open, unknown, and grand. When his dreams held no true substance, and were so full of wonder. When he needn't have thought about a thing, when he just walked right out of town, dragging his first Pokémon with him to Arceus knows where (because he didn't, or care either). So many bright days followed that one, so many amazing things, so many accomplishments and experiences, with great friends with him through so much of it.

Yet he had accomplished his greatest feat alone.

He put the photograph to the side, laying back down again. Now this was something; sorrow. This is not something he remembered dealing with in his travels alone, but surely he must have felt it now and then? Sure he did, he didn't become completely emotionless, and he couldn't have outright ignored something like this. So how did-he smacked his forehead. How could he have missed it?

He got back up, placing the photograph back where it came from before poking Pikachu awake and going down for breakfast. Less than an hour later he was ready to start his day. He made his way out, bidding goodbye to his Mom before he did.

It was time to train. Because **that's** how he'd drowned his sorrows. How interesting it was that the very thing he did to avoid his problems is what ultimately gave him his current status in the world, and created a few more problems in the process.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash entered the Oak ranch, quickly spotting and calling out to his team.

"Roll call! It's time to train!"

It took just under thirty seconds for everyone to make their way to Ash's location, except Snorlax, who was currently busy with a meal. That didn't matter, Snorlax would always respond if Ash told him it was important, and he didn't; so food came first, unless the need for sleep should arise. Then it became a competition between the two.

Ash took a careful look at his five team members, trying to decide on a training routine for today. He glanced to his Water and Grass Pokémon.

"Sceptile, Feraligatr, I want you two to spar. Hand-to-hand, or tail or whatever you feel like bashing each other with. Nothing long range, physical contact only. Use any attack you want otherwise." They nodded, before walking off to find a decently sized clearing for them to fight in. That would keep them busy for over an hour at least. Out of all the sparing matches he could set up between his Pokémon, they always provided the most interesting ones. Sceptile's no-messing-around fast close combat method, just get in, strike until your opponent falls, against Feraligatr's dancing style, which was full of evasion, subterfuge, annoying the enemy, and dance-based counter-attacks provided the most amazing contrast of fighting styles Ash had ever seen. The most interesting part of their spars was seeing who'd manage to land a hit first, and how long that would take.

Ash took a look at the three remaining team members. "Alright, Charizard, I'd rather not have you burn this field to a crisp, so no fire attacks today. Scrafty, I want you to keep attacking Charizard, physical attacks only, this isn't a mountain range so I want it in good shape when you're done. Charizard, just keep blocking him by any means you want, and throw in a counter-attack now and then, keep him on his toes. Keep this up for half hour then take a quick break. After that, reverse roles, Scrafty you dodge Charzard and try and counter. Remember what I keep telling you, element of surprise. Don't throw an attack just because you have an opportunity, it means nothing if your opponent expects it coming. Wait for when they don't expect it to come." Scrafty nodded, and both he and Charizard walked off, taking a clearing of their own to fight in, a very eager little Ash following to see his father train.

Ash looked to the last member of his team. Snorlax. Out of his team, Snorlax was both the most difficult, and easiest to train. Snorlax's fighting style consisted mostly of defence/endurance, and (literally) throwing his weight around. There was no true intricacy in his fighting style, so extensive training was practically impossible. That was the hard part, Ash had gotten used to in-depth training, the easy part is all that Snorlax's training really came down too was boosting his physical power and expanding his attack arsenal. Simplicity is power, and Snorlax's fighting style had both. Right now however Snorlax was helping himself to a feast of Pokéblocks. Clearly training him today was not going to happen. No matter. One day off wasn't going to hurt. He smiled, taking a look down at his first Pokémon.

"Pikachu you're with me. A run around the ranch, no path, let's just keep running until we, well I can't anymore. He grinned. "Ready? Let's go!"

And then they were off. They ran, seeing a lot of things as they made their way through the fields, through the Pokémon that littered it. He found his herd of Tauros, for once not on a stampede but merely lazing around in the sun. He looked up to see Noctowl, Swellow and Staraptor in the trees...he wondered how Pidgeot was doing these days. He passed by a small pond, where Corphish and Kingler were in an apparent splash fight with Buizel and Glalie. Ash passed by Donphan on the way back, or to put it correctly, Donphan passed him, clearly something was likely to be on the unlucky end of a rollout attack soon. Ash just hoped it wasn't the Tauros.

Ash and Pikachu approached the lab once more, ready to take a brief break and see how his team's trainng was going when suddenly he was interrupted.

"ASH!" He turned to see Tracey running towards him, who didn't give him a chance to ask what was wrong before he spoke again. "Ash, you have a call waiting in the lab! It's from Mr. Goodshow!"

Ash nodded, wondering to himself. _"Wonder what he wants?"_

Ash quickly swept into the building, knowing it well enough to quickly locate the phone and answer.

"Ah, Ash, glad I caught you. When your Mom said you weren't home I was worried I wouldn't reach you. There's a problem and I need your help."

"Well I'll try. What do you need?"

"Well as you might know, the Indigo League conference is coming to an end. In fact the last round will be tomorrow. And there's a new prize we've been trying to include in league conferences worldwide."

"New prize?"

The president nodded, smiling. "Alder's idea. Anyone who wins a conference gets an exhibition battle with the Pokémon Champion of that Region."

Ash blinked, that didn't make any sense. "Then why aren't you calling Lance?"

"I'm afraid his Pokémon haven't fully recovered from the Grandmaster Championship. They're still going to need a few extra days before they're fully healed."

There wasn't any accusation in Charles' tone, but Ash had to prevent himself from rubbing his head in embarrassment. The fact was; Ash was the one to defeat Lance at the championship. It was that battle that currently _still_ had Lance's team in recovery.

It wasn't _Ash's_ fault.

It wasn't Ash's fault Lance had a Charizard on his team. It wasn't Ash's fault that his Charizard didn't feel like being merciful on the matter. It wasn't Ash's fault ordering Snorlax to use Sleep Talk resulted in Lance's Altaria being on the receiving end of an Ice Punch then a Giga Impact. It wasn't Ash's fault that Lance's Gyarados (he still found the sight of the red Gyarados odd) proved to be such a good 'dance partner' to Ferailagatr, so much in fact the crowd demanded an encore (and Feraligatr **never** denied the crowd an encore). Ash couldn't help it if Lance's Dragonite hadn't been able to avoid Pikachu's thunder attack, and Ash didn't tell Pikachu to keep it up that long!

It wasn't _Ash's_ fault, seriously!

Still he felt a little guilty..."So you want me to take Lance's place?"

"That's right. After all, you are from Kanto, plus you haven't made an official public appearance since the Championship. The people want to see the new Pokémon Grandmaster, so it's perfect!"

These days, Ash would have normally declined. Public equal crowds, crowds equal people, people equal...well he didn't deal with people anymore. Plus he despised the thought of selling himself to the public as some kind of symbol, he really wasn't that special! However, he liked Mr. Goodshow, and it was with his blessing that Ash even got into the Grandmaster Championship in the first place.

"Alright I'll do it."

"Wonderful! I owe you one, Ash. Alright my boy, keep in mind, it's just an exhibition match. Three-on-three. Remember, your title isn't on the line so don't take it too seriously. Oh and Ash..." His tone changed. "_Please_ leave the arena in decent shape this time. Repairs are still ongoing at the Grandmaster stadium."

Ash couldn't help but give a cheeky grin, Pikachu mimicking it perfectly. "Just wait until you see what I do next year."

A sweat-drop appeared on the side of the aged president's face, this is what happened when he let young upstarts into the bigger leagues and take the title, well every action in life had consequences. "I'm really not sure if you're joking...well goodbye Ash, see you at the league conference. And thanks again."

"See you then, Mr. Goodshow."

Ash put the phone done, somewhere between annoyed and excited. Crowds, bad. Battle against a possibly strong opponent, **always** good.

Strong ones were always the best opponents.

As he walked out he was glad to see his team was well in progress with training. Scrafty had just attempted to head-butt Charizard, but it'd been blocked by a steel wing, knocking him back. Scrafty almost literally bounced back from the ground, landing on his feet, this time trying a punch, but a tail nearly stopped him. Nearly, Scrafty latched onto it, throwing his body around it, before kicking Chrizard in the jaw and knocking him a couple steps back. Ash nodded, smiling. Scrafty was getting better all the time, but he still had a ways to go.

He couldn't avoid the claw which grabbed him by the leg and slammed him into the ground.

Sceptile and Feraligatr didn't seem to have been able to hit one another yet by the looks of them, but they were really going at it. In a handful of seconds Sceptile had tried half a dozen attacks, with the dancer narrowly (by intent, annoyance was part of his game) avoiding them before attempting a swipe with his tail. Sceptile jumped, moving in for his next attack; a leaf blade across Feraligatr's front. Feraligatr leaned back, avoiding the strike before back flipping away. Both were still for a moment, deciding where to go from there.

Ash decided to stop it before things escalated, the last spar he let reach extreme heights almost got the pair caught in a giant rock slide...not that he'd expected that to stop them. "Team! Gather up! This is important!" This time even Sorlax came running (actually managing to pull himself away from a good meal), and quickly his entire team had gathered around him. "Alright everybody, here's the thing. The Indigo League is about to end, and I have to face the winner in a three-on-three exhibition battle. Now I know you're all on vacation from big battles, and you all deserve it, but this kinda got thrown in my lap. Likely is I could just win the match with one of you, but rules are rules. So, any volunteers?"

"Pika!" Well there wasn't any doubt Pikachu would want in.

Charizard roared and nodded. Again to no surprise.

The remaining four however seemed to be debating among themselves, aside from Snorlax, who was eyeing the meal he had left behind. Well he wouldn't offer unless nobody else was going to. After all, this match wasn't that big a deal, but if need be he'd take the roll of the third. Scrafty was rubbing his chin and thinking, would the opponent's Pokémon be strong? Feraligatr and Sceptile were looking to one another, silently debating-

"_Oh not again."_

Two appendages found their way into the air, and suddenly two fists were moving up and down in sync. Ash was actually proud that he taught his Pokémon a way of fighting over something without beating the living daylights out of each-other (mostly it was to stop Scrafty head-butting his team members), but it got really annoying when the game would go a dozen rounds or so without a victor. Scrafty normally just resorted back to head-butting whenever this happened.

Round one. Both rock.

Round two. Both paper

Round three. Rock won!

Sceptile smiled to himself, with Feraligatr going into the 'dance of annoyance' (the only important detail is that it was always a good idea to duck when this started. Ash didn't the first couple of times). Those two really were complete opposites. After a moment of watching Sceptile spoke up, saying something to Feraligatr before he, along with Snorlax and Scrafty took a step back.

Feraligatr was the third. Ash nodded and smiled. "Thanks you guys. I'll come pick you both up in the morning. Take the rest of the day off if you want." The entire team nodded, glad they'd been set free from training. They'd do six months of training in isolation again if Ash had asked them to, but it was supposed to be their vacation.

They all knew something was wrong with Ash, and they all worried for him.

Ash quickly made his way home, eager to tell his Mom about this new development. It'd been so long since she was at a stadium watching him battle, and this would be his first official battle as Grandmaster.

He wanted her to see _this_ battle in person.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty muttered in extreme annoyance as she settled down in her hotel room. The most annoying part of being a gym leader: Official Pokémon League functions. She had to attend the end of the Indigo League conference. Afterwards there would be some pain in the ass meeting about some new regulations in the Kanto Pokémon league, or to be specific some new regulations in how gyms were run. She had a feeling it was because of her. She couldn't help it if challengers couldn't keep up with her! Though to be fair, no one had seized a Gym Badge from her gym in a few months now, and that one she'd given out of admiration, she hadn't seen a trainer that concerned for the safety of his Pokémon since Ash.

She hadn't seen anyone that stupid since Ash either. Really, who brings a _Charmander_ to a Water-type gym anyway?

So here she was, in a hotel room for a few days (on the League's dollar so that was nice), and tomorrow she'd be forced to attend some official battles, but only one battle had her attention. The final match of the day, the winner of the conference against Ash. She'd just gotten word yesterday the Grandmaster would be battling (her and the rest of the world, and they'd be watching), and as much as she despised to admit it she was looking forward to it.

She had watched the Grandmaster Championship. Even after...everything, she still watched the entire Championship. She watched Ash advance round after round, defeat foe after foe. Watching those battles, Misty had honestly had trouble recognizing him as the boy she'd travelled with. She knew he had potential from early on, and she had no doubt that one day he would have eventually reached his dream, but _never_ would she have expected him to get that good so soon. He'd risen to the top, and in the place of that boy she travelled with was the best trainer in the world.

His battles were always a sight to behold, even if he had a tendency to wreck the arena he was fighting in during the process of a battle against a strong opponent. Ash's greatest battles at the Championship had truly been in a league of their own, and if she knew Ash (maybe she did these days...), he was only going to get better, and next year was going to overshadow his recent battles completely.

Yes...as much she hated to admit it. His abandoning everyone. His Mom, his friends, even...her, had proven to be a deciding factor in what he'd accomplished. He'd reached his dream without them, without her. She'd always wanted to be there when he'd finally won it all...

But now it seemed she'd just been holding him back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brock removed some medical glows as he left the medical ward of the Pokémon Center smiling. Two trainers had come in an hour ago, their Pokémon having fought each other, but in circumstances that were kinda hazy to the aspiring doctor both had ended up with considerable injuries, each requiring surgery. Brock was grateful, it was one of those "looks worse than it is" operations, and both would make a full recovery within a week. He had just informed the trainers as such, and was about to take a break when-

"Brock!"

He nearly jumped, before quickly spotting "May! Dawn!" Both girls were sitting at a table, waving him over. "Well this is a great surprise. It's been too long."

They smiled, before May spoke up. "Well after the contest we figured why not come see you?"

He doubted it was her intention, but he suddenly felt he should apologize. "Sorry about not coming to see your contest, girls, but I was working. I did catch your battle on TV, though. Great battle you two." Brock decided against congratulating May on her victory, wanting to spare Dawn a blow to her pride.

Both smiled before Dawn spoke. "Thanks, Brock, we understand. Though we'd have preferred you to show up over the jerk."

The meaning was not lost upon Brock. "What's this about Ash now?"

Dawn continued. "He came to the contest, we think anyway. He was definitely in Celadon afterwards. He was coming up to us by the looks of it but when we saw him he ran for it. That jerk! He didn't even say hello!"

Even for Ash, this surprised Brock. That made two close encounters with former friends he'd ran from. He would have never, ever taken Ash for a coward. Could there have been another reason?

May had two cents to add. "Though he might have been running from the crowds. You saw them swarm in when they noticed him. I wonder what Misty thought?"

Well there was a possible reason. "Wait, Misty with was you?"

Both nodded, not really thinking anything of the question, May's mind in particular was currently elsewhere. "He still could have said something to us..."

Brock's mind worked quickly, drawing a conclusion before he even finished taking his next breath. Ash had gone to Celadon, possibly in an attempt to talk to May and Dawn, but when he'd saw Misty he'd ran for it. He was likely missing some details, and maybe his conclusion was a little off the mark, but the basic fact was still there. One of Ash's friends (Misty seemed to be the logical conclusion) had caused him to run the second he saw them. _"Shame."_ So he hoped anyway. If not then, well Brock decided not to think about it, and pursue a better topic, a lighter, more pleasant topic.

Too bad television doesn't really care about what's pleasant or not, as it picked that precise moment to make an announcement known.

Of course, the Indigo League conference, that was today. Forrest had wined about having to be drug off to some 'League Pokécrap' (met with a berating about "language!" from Lola). Flint had gone with him, leaving the house without its father and resident gym leader for a few days (though all Kanto gyms were closed for this time anyway). Misty would definitely be there. News had already been broadcast of exactly who would be facing the conference winner in an exhibition match.

He wondered if something would finally happen between them. _"If they make up...will she break a couple bones or kiss him, I wonder?"_

His guesses were not mutually exclusive. Almost a shame he wasn't a people doctor, it'd be an interesting sight to see. He had to stop himself from chuckling at the morbidly funny image of Ash on a hospital bed, being rushed to an emergency room while Misty was kissing him anywhere she could reach while his leg was bent at a wrong angle, Misty with her mallet still in hand.

He took a glance behind him, both May and Dawn were paying attention to the TV, though trying to hide just how much attention they were paying. He guessed that like himself (and just about everyone Ash had left behind), they had watched the Grandmaster Championship. Ash had clearly come far from the little boy who'd set his Pikachu against his Onix. His battles truly were something for the ages now, and Brock had a feeling Ash was going to go down in history as the greatest Grandmaster who ever lived (well he was already holding "youngest"). Brock would almost be tempted to have a battle against him now, just for grins. But since he was a Pokémon Doctor (okay, in training), he could not in good conscience pit his Pokémon against any of Ash's. He'd seen some of the injuries Ash's Pokémon left on their opponents, and his job was to _heal_ such injuries, not help cause them.

Both May and Dawn's eyes reacted slightly when the name 'Ash Ketchum' was said, and he became sure. If Misty and himself forgave Ash, they would. It just all depended on Ash.

Though he was not yet fully convinced of Ash's regret.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Indigo League conference was over, the winner had been crowned and there would be a brief intermission.

After that, it was match time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash walked through a corridor to the arena slowly, the pathway slowly becoming brighter as the light of day outside grew stronger. He suddenly stopped, still somewhere between the light and the dark as he looked up, taking a breath before he spoke.

"I may not be good with people anymore. I may not be any good at keeping friends. Hell, I even suck as a son." He looked at his oldest friend. "But this, this I won't get wrong. I'll always find my way in battle. We'll always find our way!"

Pikachu nodded, and his cheeks suddenly crackled with power, once upon a time it would have merely been a brief spark but the years of training had vastly increased his power, now his mere display of excitement lit the hallway as his sparks spread out like a rapidly appearing/disappearing web, spreading in all directions from himself and Ash. Ash continued walking, unaffected by the impressive show of power. "Let's have a good fight, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" _Yeah!_

The sparking stopped, and Ash was left with the thoughts that spiralled in his head. As much as he hated to admit it, it was true.

He'd failed his Mom.

He'd failed his friends.

He'd failed even himself.

But...he'd never fail at battling.

Never.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia felt very out-of-place.

Here she was, in specially reserved seating. Around here were people she never thought she'd find herself in the presence of. Around her various Pokémon League officials, (Mr. Goodshow among them, the only official who **didn't** look the part, would he **ever** wear a suit?) as well as the current Elite Four. On her right side sat Lance himself, who didn't seem even the slightest bit put out by the fact Ash had not only defeated him, but was taking his place during the battle today.

"Umm. Why exactly am I sitting up here, again?"

Lance glanced at her, before smiling. "You're the Grandmaster's Mother. He'd give us all hell if we gave you anything but the best seats."

"Still. I feel kinda...weird sitting here."

He shrugged. "You should get used to it. I have a feeling Ash won't want to battle in a stadium from now on unless you're there. And he won't let you have anything but the best."

All further conversation was silenced by a sudden announcement.

"**Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the Pokémon Grandmaster, Ash Ketchum!"**

Delia almost gasped as Ash came out onto the field. Every step he made was made with confidence, strength, and with such discipline it would easy to forget the hyperactive little boy he once was. That small smile he had, the way Pikachu stood upon his shoulder, the way he gazed only where he was going and his eyes, they were so focused. The way the crowds cheering _didn't distract him!_ He didn't even glance at them! A younger Ash would have a great deal of focus. Ash had left his home long ago a headstrong little boy with more passion than actual skill in the world of Pokémon. He'd returned the greatest of them all. Now she could truly see what her little boy had become, he'd reached his dream.

Her baby really had grown up.

"_I'm so proud of you, Ash."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"**Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the Pokémon Grandmaster, Ash Ketchum!"**

Misty watched as Ash came out, paying more attention than she likely should have as he made his way out into the arena. She was surprised, actually.

The first time Ash had walked in a league stadium he'd been so nervous, but now...now he was like an entirely different person. With his small smile, Pikachu on his shoulder and a confident stride she could actually fully grasp the concept, _Ash was Grandmaster. He was the best._ He'd worked years for it and now he'd returned to the place of his first league challenge, not as a competitor, but as the best, and not merely of that league.

He was the greatest in the world. The crowds roared to him, thousands of them screaming out his name, the name of the new Pokémon Grandmaster. The boy wonder who'd entered the Grandmaster Championship and seized the ultimate title. The young man who'd taken on the strongest trainers in the entire world, the strongest _Masters_ in the world and defeated them outright. League Conference winner, Elite Four member, Regional Champion, no matter who'd dared to challenge him, he'd beaten them down, before setting his sights on his next foe, who'd quickly join the previous. With a sad smile she wondered, would that little ten year old Ash ever have seen this coming? With a slight laugh she knew the answer was 'yes'. He was nothing if not a dreamer.

And his dreams had now become reality.

"_He's grown so much. Changed so much...is he even the same Ash anymore?"_

"**Now the moment you've all be waiting for! Grandmaster Ash Ketchum well battle the winner of the Indigo League Conference in a three on three Pokémon Battle!"**

At that announcement both Ash and Pikachu grinned.

She saw Ash's grin, and yes, the mouth was the same, the familiar movements of his face muscles formed that grin perfectly, but his eyes.

Those were not _his_ eyes. Yes, she could see the determination, his love of battling, which only seemed to have grown, but not in a way she liked. Before it was a fire, waiting to be set free and _shine_ but now it was more...feral, a fire that wanted to _burn_. She could forgive, could excuse Ash wanting a good battle more now. Somehow Ash loving battle even more...seemed him, though she did not like how _wild_ that part of his eyes were now. Parts of his eyes were darker, emptier than she remembered, and she remembered _perfectly_ how his eyes used to look. The sweet naivety Ash always had in his eyes was almost no more, okay so he'd grown up a bit, no big deal but something _else_ had gone with it too. Something important.

It was her single-most favourite thing about his eyes. It was subtler than the fire, wrapped under Ash's love of a good battle, it wasn't his kindness, but it always went well with it, and she could always see it. She knew his Pokémon could see it, and perhaps everyone else could too. Maybe it was the thing that once upon a time drew so many people to him, made just about everyone like him (and to her immense chagrin, made girls like him more than she would have permitted), it made him unique, she had kept careful eye out for it in others after she'd left Ash, wondering if anyone else had anything else like it, but no one did. No one had _that_ in their eyes. She didn't know how to explain it, it was like some kind of _spark_ that had always shone in his eyes, and only now did she truly realize.

That spark...was gone. Was he the Ash she knew anymore?

She wasn't sure.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"**And now Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you the winner of the Indigo League Conference! Harrison of Littleroot Town!"**

Both Ash and Pikachu's eyebrows shot up at that one, talk about a flashback. Ash did wonder briefly if he'd misheard but no, there he was. It'd been a long time, and the years were traceable if you looked closely, but there was no doubt. The one who'd defeated Ash at the Silver Conference years ago was here now. Ash probed his memory, thinking he remembered hearing something about Harrison trying the indigo league conference before and getting runner up. Clearly he'd come back to correct that, and succeeded.

"Hey, Ash."

"Hey, Harrison. Long time no see. Congratulations on winning the conference. Planning on going after the Elite Four next?"

"Yeah. I've been in training for a year or so and I think I can take them. After all..." He grinned. "I did beat you once."

Ash gave a brief laugh. "Yeah, you did. But let's remember which one of us is Grandmaster now." He gave a sly grin. "Come try me now if you got the guts!"

"You got it!" He reached for a Pokéball. "Go Blaziken!"

The crowds broke out into cheers as Harrison's main powerhouse appeared. Most of them had been witness to Harrison's battles (A share were here just for Ash), and it was common knowledge that Blaziken was the powerhouse of the team.

It could be a trip down memory lane for Ash, but memories were just painful reminders to him these days. He laughed. "It's a rematch, then." He reached for his first Pokémon. "Charizard, it's time for battle!" Charizard's Pokéball found release, and so did the creature inside. He emerged with a roar and a display of power, shooting a stream of fire at the sky. When he'd finally stopped Ash pointed to Charizard's opponent. "That guy look familiar to you?" His response was a vicious growl, yes. "Good. Time to get even and then some! You ready!" Charizard's tail burned brighter as he growled out the closest thing he could to 'yes'. "Alright!" He turned to his opponent. "Come at us, Harrison! Let's see what you got! Don't disappoint me now, I want this to be fun!"

"You got it! Blaziken, sweep in quick with a couple of fire punches!" Blaziken briefly vanished with the sheer speed of his legs, but it wasn't enough to hide from the eyes of Charizard, or Ash for that matter. Blaziken appeared mere feet from Charizard, both his hands ignited, ready to deliver two heavy blows.

Ash wouldn't be having that. "Grab his fists, Charizard." The two burning fists slammed into Charizards claws, setting fire to Charizard's claws but he didn't even flinch. Ash's powerhouse grasped tightly on the fists he'd captured. Blaziken's fists were going nowhere. "Don't underestimate me, Harrison. I'm the Grandmaster for a reason."

"Flamethrower, Blaziken!"

Blaziken opened his beak, and a river of fire enveloped Charizard's face, and the torrent raged on for a full twenty seconds before he stopped for breath.

There was a resounding gasp as everyone saw just how effective the attack ultimately was.

It wasn't. Charizard had some blackened spots where the fire had passed over his skin, but it was nothing a cleaning wouldn't remove. Charizard grunted, but not from pain, not even from the effects of the flame. Ash sensed it too. _"That attack..."_

"**Wow! Charizard took a direct flamethrower from Blaziken and he's not even fazed! What kind of training has that Charizard gone through?"**

Training severe enough to render even Blaziken's Flamethrower little more than an annoyance. Patience on the other hand was something he was never going to learn. He wanted an order, one little attack order and this could all be over..."Blaze Kick!"

"Ziken!" Blaziken's right foot shot up in an instant, slamming a burning blow right into his victims jaw, Charizard took a step back, but other than that all Blaziken got for his effort was a very annoyed growl.

Ash was suddenly clenching and unclenching his hands, his breathing hastened, something was wrong, very wrong, and he didn't know how to describe it. All he knew was..._"He should be stronger..."_ He tried shaking his head, _"What's wrong with me?"_ He didn't know how to describe it, his body was screaming out at him, for _something_, it needed _something_, but **what**? His hands were starting to twitch. He raised them, lightly slapping his palms onto his face but it didn't help. Something was wrong, and he couldn't keep still or calm.

"Pikapi, pika chu?" _Ash, what's wrong?_

"I don't-" He shook his head harder, trying to shake off whatever was bothering him, but nothing. "Damn!"

"Headbutt!" Another vicious attack, another failed result, Charizard was getting really annoyed, would Ash just give him a damn order already! "Again!" He was getting really angry now..."Again!" Charizard was suppressing the urge to just blast his enemy anyway, but this was not the championship, his opponent wasn't a Charizard, and wasn't powerful enough to concern him. Though...(another headbutt, Charizard was pushed another step back) Blaziken had beaten him before...Charizard just kept on growling.

Harrison was starting to lose his cool, this battle was too different from their last for his liking. "Blaziken, throw a barrage of Blaze Kicks at Charizard's stomach! Don't stop until he lets go!" Blaziken placed both his feet on Charizard's stomach, before rapidly kicking against it a vicious series of burning kicks. Charizard tightened his grip on Blaziken's fists, not letting go, even as the burning blows pounded into him.

Up in the stands everyone watched with astounded eyes as Charizard took the punishing blows with more annoyance than actual damage. **"What kind of Pokémon can take this punishment?!"** Harrison's Blaziken had gained quite a reputation in the Indigo league, not unlike the reputation Charizard had earned at the Grandmaster Championship. They simply _were_ definitions of raw power, so seeing one so easily restrain and shake off the attacks of the other made Charizard intimidating to say the absolute least. Especially to those who had seen their last battle.

Still Ash gave no order, instead looking down at his shaking hands. _"What's wrong with me?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Ash!" _Misty had to force herself _not_ to stand up. Nothing else mattered, the past, the pain, _everything_. Nothing of that meant a thing anymore. She could not sit idly by and just watch this without a care! Her mind could only process one fact, and it filled her heart with worry.

Ash was distressed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia had watched the stages closely, first she wondered if it was just some minor thing (maybe the crowd was annoying him?), but now she knew... "Ash...what's wrong?"

Lance looked at Ash closely, carefully taking in what was in front of him. He nodded to himself, realizing. "He can't adapt himself."

"Huh?"

Lance's expression turned pensive, lightly running a thumb across his chin for a moment before speaking. "It's a common thing in the world of Pokémon training, that passionate trainers gain a certain...lust for battling. It's really common among stronger trainers, and the stronger they are, the worse it can get." He leaned back in his seat, his face reflective. "To put it simply, they gain a lust for great battles. The Pokémon normally gain it as well, though fighting is often in their nature so it's not a problem for them at all, but for the trainer it is. They get used to fighting at whatever level they are at that point, so only someone of comparable or greater strength can really satisfy them. They need to fight someone who can push them to their limits, so to fight someone weaker..." He gave a small smile. "Now there's a problem. It's really, really frustrating fighting someone weaker than yourself when you get used to fighting all out. I remember when I went through it the first time, oh yes it can happen more than once." He said, answering Delia's unspoken question. "First is realizing that there was even a problem, after I first joined the Elite Four and faced my first challenger. It's when I came to terms with the fact of the matter. It happens a few times after that, as I rose through the ranks, until I became champion. I've gotten past it. Ash, on the other hand..." He looked down to the current Grandmaster. He took another few seconds of silence, considering his words carefully.

"Now there are only six individuals that I can name in the entire world that can really challenge him, and it's certain that none of them can actually defeat him. Ash's journey was filled with those who were at least equal to him, and a number stronger than him, and he never stopped, never took time to stop and get used his already high level of strength before moving on to stronger opponents. Now he's the strongest, with no one greater than him, and not even someone to equal him. For him, this will be hard. The addiction to heightened combat really strong trainers develop is bad enough, but since Ash has never gone through it in stages, like most do, it's going to be even harder. It takes a lot get over...the addiction."

Delia took a moment to consider Lance's words, the concept sounded so strange. How could one get an addiction to what was essentially violence? But then she remembered, she remembered the way Ash's eyes would look when he described a "really awesome" battle. The excitement in his voice, the detail in his words, the..._wistfulness _in his tone. She didn't think much of it then, but now it made sense. Ash _really_ loved a good battle.

And that worried her. "How did you get over it?"

"Friends and family mostly." (He didn't notice Delia's slight wince) "I had to indulge in hobbies for a while and helping with the running of the Elite Four and other Pokémon League matters kept me busy. Eventually it took the edge off, and finding a strong opponent didn't matter anymore. It got easier every time, even when I became champion, actually that time wasn't so bad. These days I can fight weaker opponents without a problem, though I still love the absolute thrill of a really strong opponent." He sighed. "Ash really was something." He smiled. "I got over it. Now it's Ash's turn. He just needs to let it all go, and start really living a little. Once he branches out, and relaxes a little, finds something else to enjoy he'll be alright. Let's just hope he doesn't do anything drastic in the meantime."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A growl snapped Ash out of his trance, _"Charizard!"_ He was letting Charizard take a beating! A mostly harmless one but even so this was unacceptable. _"Shit!"_ He was ending this right now! He thrust out a hand. "Blast Burn!"

Oh thank Arceus, FINALLY! Charizard opened his mouth with a vengeful raw, and a small sun burst forth. Blaziken had far less than a second before his face was full of fire, and quickly the explosion covered both Blaziken and Charizard, as well as a sizeable portion of the arena in a most unholy fire.

When the firestorm finally cleared Charizard was revealed to be standing, unaffected by the inferno he had unleashed upon his foe. He was looking down at something, but whatever it was, was hidden in smoke. When it finally parted an unconscious Blaziken was all that remained, one that clearly wouldn't be fighting for a while, likely considerably longer than the last time the two had battled. Charizard couldn't help but chuckle, revenge was sweet, especially when mixed with some wanton destruction.

It'd been one hell of a day when Charizard decided to get even with every other Charizard that had ever beaten him at the valley (which was in fact, every Charizard). Liza would have never thought the gates of the valley could be _melted_. Interestingly, Charla was the _only_ Charizard who wasn't out of commission for days after that. She wasn't sure if she should have been insulted or flattered.

"**Incredible! He defeated Blaziken in a single attack!"**

Most trainers would be grinning at their victory, or congratulating their Pokémon on such a flawless performance, and normally Ash would, but this was anything but a normal day.

Though he'd done very little Ash's breathing had become laboured. His mouth was sucking in air rapidly, his body moving in a steady rhythm as he stood there_ "What's wrong with me?! Why can't I..."_ His fists clenched, he was angry, frustrated and absolutely restless. _"Why am I feeling like this?"_

Another sudden growling pierced his thoughts. "Charizard?" Another growl was his reply, and Charizard was giving him a questioning look. "I'm sorry for not stopping that. It's just...I don't know what it is." He shook his head. "Are you okay?" Charizard nodded, breathing out a small puff of flame, no surprises there. Ash was far too used to Charizard not even being fazed after a battle. "I'm glad. Alright, you've done your part. Time to take a break." The look he got in return for that could be translated as "What?!". You **didn't** withdraw Charizard unless he couldn't fight anymore! "This is just a sparring match, Charizard, you proved your strength back at the Championship. Others gotta have fun too." Charizard nodded, settling. As much fun as revenge was, beating on weaker opponents wasn't in the nature of Charizard's species. "Thanks, Charizard. Return."

Just as Charizard became a mass of red light, he could see Harrison had just done the same to his Blaziken, and Ash found himself not really able to feel sorry for his opponent's fallen Pokémon. _"You should have been stronger."_ He caught his thought, his anger boiling up, just what the hell was wrong with him!? Why was he so frustrated? He took a moment to compose himself, creating a passable 'regular Ash'. "Alright Harrison, bring out your next Pokémon." He reached for Feraligatr's Lure Ball. "I'm ready when you are."

Harrison had already long since decided which Pokémon he would use. "Houndoom!"

The crowd cheered as Harrison's partner appeared, another battle was about to be start, and after the last they crowd was eager for more.

Ash threw his second fighter. "Feraligatr!"

The crowds once again were in an uproar, and not just because Ash had revealed another member of his team, but of which member he'd revealed. Feraligatr was already giving a little dace, he was quite the fan favourite (second only to Pikachu in that regard). It was a few seconds before Feraligatr stopped dancing, slamming his feet into the ground as he did. It was time for battle, he'd have all the opportunity he wanted to dance in a moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty repressed a giggle as memories of the Totadile the dancer used to be flooded her mind. Better times, back when everything was almost perfect, and few things could go wrong. Travelling with Ash, no experience could ever match it, and Brock had been a nice bonus too. To her, Feraligatr could symbolize change perfectly. When he'd come into the fold as a Totadile, both he, as well as Ash and Misty had been young, full of ideals and dreams, things had been _fun_. Now he'd grown evolved, grown up, just like she had to, and as Ash had too. Gone was the little child who'd just wanted to have fun, wandering the land without a care in a world. Now all three of them had responsibility, burden, and with the exception of Feraligatr; regret. It was now Misty truly grasped something, even more so when she took one more glance at Ash.

So much time had passed.

So much had changed.

Now she was a Gym leader, Ash was Grandmaster, and Feraligatr was a member of the greatest team of Pokémon in the world. Misty would have liked to think a little of her influence as a Water Type trainer was somewhere in Feraligatr's training, so perhaps she and Ash would still have _something_ tying them together, something which connected them, bound them, but she doubted it.

She gave a sigh...she wished she'd won the fight to claim that particular Water Pokémom. His dances were so amazing to watch, especially when being used to beat something unconscious. In better times she'd ask for lessons.

His style would go great with her mallet, and she'd have an ideal partner to 'dance' with in mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harrison took a moment to himself this time. Attacking directly had gotten Blaziken a week out of commission from the looks of it (maybe longer), another foolish attack could likely put Houndoom down for even longer than that, he was at a type disadvantage now. He took a moment, a moment to seriously consider his next move.

A moment too long for Ash's current level of patience. "Swords Dance!"

That was the only command Ash would need to give for the moment, because when Feraligatr used it, Swords Dance was more than just a way to boost attack power, it was an actual attack. The dancer quickly got to work, his claws and tails starting to form a blue glow as he gracefully and quickly moved across the arena towards his foe.

"Get out of the way, Houndoom!" The canine Pokémon jumped away just in time to avoid a heavy tail, but quickly had to dodge the same tail again, Feraligatr had jumping as part of his dance routine! The second jump seemed to have done the trick, as the dancing Pokémon was content to dance in place, his glowing blue claws and tail flailing with the intricate movements in his dance of battle. "Flamethrower!" Not the wisest move choice, but Harrison was not letting his best friend get close to the dancer if he could help it.

Feraligatr's eyes were closed, but he gracefully sidestepped the attack, before jumping again within range of Houndoom as he twirled again, this time the tail hitting its target dead on. Houndoom was sent sailing, landing not very far from his trainer, clearly hurt by the force of the blow, but he wouldn't be backing down yet. He growled, and Harrison suddenly got an idea...risky, but if it worked..."Get up close and try Crunch!"

A bark met his order, and Houndoom ran towards the still dancing Pokémon, whose claws and tail now radiated a far stronger light, one attack from this Pokémon would end most matches instantly.

One attack would, Ash had ran out of patience._ "This isn't going anywhere."_ "Iron Tail!" Feraligatr grinned, sending a steel-coated tail at his opponent in a spin.

Just what Harrison wanted. "Counter!" The Iron Tail slammed into the orange glow that covered his body, and before even that happened it was obvious what was going to happen.

It would take far more than _that_ to outwit the Grandmaster. "Use the momentum and spin the attack right back!" The tail bounced off, but Feraligatr slammed a clawed foot into the ground, and like a ballerina spun on the spot, sending the tail on yet another crash course with the canine, which was rebounded, which spun around again, which was rebounded, which found its way back, which was rebounded, which found it's way back...faster and faster...

Until it landed for the last time. Houndoom could no longer sustain a barrier to block that level of power and was launched off the ground, unceremoniously landing in a heap before Harrison.

Unconscious. _"Not strong enough!"_ Now Ash knew what was bothering him. _"He's nowhere near strong enough!"_ But _why_ was it bothering him so much? He rubbed sweat from his forehead. Why was he feeling like this? He turned back to the arena and tried not to think about it.

Feraligatr was still spinning, both his arms in the air as he gradually slowed down. When he finally came to a stop he came crashing to a knee and striking a pose that was clearly meant to mean "ta da!"...well Feraligatr was nothing if not eager to entertain.

The crowd sure loved him. They were roaring, two crushing victories in a row by the Grandmaster without even notable effort on his part. In fact, to most of them he looked bored out of his mind. A select few could tell otherwise, how he bit his lip, clenched and unclenched his hands in rapid succession. The way his breathing was heavier than normal.

He raised a Pokéball. "Alright, Feraligatr, take a bow." And he did, multiple in fact. Feraligatr made it a point to face every corner of the arena, and give a deep bow to the audience on each side. The crowds only cheered louder and louder, which only made the entertainer bow deeper. Ash half-expected someone to start throwing roses. With a red beam of light he returned his Water Pokémon, deep in thought. _"Maybe I'm going at this the wrong way. Using powerful attacks won't make the battle last..."_ He glanced at Pikachu for a second. _"Maybe if I pace myself a bit..."_ He nodded to himself, well stranger ideas have worked. He took second to think, deciding to try and do something nice. "Nice try with that Counter, if Feraligatr wasn't such a natural-born dancer you'd have gotten a good hit in. You've improved. The Elite Four better have their guard up. Alright, Harrison. Call out your last Pokémon!"

By now Harrison was a bit shaken. He knew from previous experience that Charizard was strong, so having him demolish Blaziken so easily had not been a big a shock to his system as it would have been otherwise, but this was worse. Feraligatr hadn't even been scratched, and even his clever strategy had only been turned against him. He swallowed a lump in his throat, coming to a conclusion he'd never had come to when he fought Ash all those years ago.

Ash was...intimidating. The Ash before him now had something, something different about him. Standing before him, it was like Ash emitted some kind of pressure, like all of his strength leaked from his very being, his posture, his gaze, those eyes. Now they were almost scary. The fire that shone in them, the fire that longed to _burn_ in a fight. Harrison had to avert his gaze, or he might have quivered in fear at that wild flame. Ash was different now. He still had that impulsive battle style, but now it was blended with a keen mind and an efficient one if his reaction to Counter was any indication, and he wanted to battle even more than he did back then. Harrison was out of his league here. He'd knew that before he'd started this battle.

He just didn't expect it to be _this_ one-sided. He was going to have to go into some serious training before he took on the Elite Four, but he wasn't going to just give up. "Go Weavile!"

The crowds were once again in a fit, they all knew what was coming now. Ash looked closely at his latest target, recognising it for what it used to be. Ash's memory briefly flashed back to his first meeting with the previous form of the Weavile before him, but it was quickly quelled. That was a long time ago. A better time ago. "Pikachu, you're up. Maybe if I don't use pure power the fight'll..." He looked to his friend. "Just get out there."

"Pikapi?" _Ash?_

"Please, Pikachu. Just get out there. And..." He gritted his teeth, turning away. "I don't know...just fight. Make it last, make it good." He shook his head again. "Just go."

"...Kachu." _...Alright._ He lightly patted Ash's head before he went. He didn't get what was wrong with Ash, but he wasn't mad at him for his Ash's behaviour. Ash wouldn't act like this without reason, and if he started being mean Pikachu could just shock him.

Pikachu walked forward with a happy set of steps. He didn't have a care in the world about the battle. The crowds, roaring louder than ever before didn't distract him in the least. He didn't even react when Harrison barked an order.

"Fury Cutter!" Weavile ran forward, pulling back one claw for the first of what would be many strikes. Even if Ash didn't give the order Pikachu wasn't gonna take this sitting down. One thing that Ash had made sure his Pokémon understood over the years was that even if he didn't give the order to get out of the way (or something else which was obviously a good idea) they should do it anyway. This was not one of those times however.

"Evade every slash!"

Pikachu would follow that command to the letter. Weavile slashed hard and fast but Pikachu merely grinned, moving like a blur just outside the claws' reach. Weavile tried again, sidestepped. Again, ducked. Again and again and again Weavile tried to hit his target, each attack coming faster and faster but Pikachu just kept smiling and dodging, never faltering, never getting the claw even graze him. Soon it became like some kind of movie special effect, Weavile's claws were in who knows how many places at once but wherever they were, there was a Pikachu just out of their range. One had to keep their eyes open constantly or they'd miss this strange mess of moving images, one that kept getting faster and faster.

Still Pikachu kept grinning.

"**Wow! Pikachu's dodging every attack and making it look easy!"**

Little did most know, that to Pikachu it really was easy to dodge the attacks. The training phase that Ash's team had gone through had been extreme, resulting more than once in needing an emergency visit to a Pokémon Center for a team member. Every member had had their natural abilities pushed to their current limit, and while Pikachu would admit he wasn't the leader in raw power, he'd brag about his speed when given opportunity, and boy did he have the rights. Even Pokémon known for their speed had for the most part unable to even keep up with him at the championship, never mind landing a hit. He'd outran Pokémon like Arcanine and Rapidash with a cheeky grin. Even the likes of Ninjask, a Pokémon who only got faster as it fought had to go all out to keep up with Pikachu, but even it had found itself outpaced.

Pikachu also had one major bragging right that no one else on Ash's team did.

At the championship, he wasn't defeated even a single time. He'd enter a match and he'd be the one standing at the end of it, because he would be the one to end it. Ash normally liked to keep him for later in a match, but on the occasions that Ash sent him out to fight first Pikachu swept through the opponent's entire team. Pikachu was Ash's ace, and always would be, even Charizard knew better than to try challenging him on that fact. While the dragon-like Pokémon could take on one full powered attack from Pikachu and get back up, half a dozen or so was a vaguer story.

The swiping kept coming, stronger and faster with every attempt but to no avail. Pikachu was not going to be hit if he didn't want to be, and he didn't want to be.

"**Somebody get the scientists in, because it's a wonder how a Pikachu could be THAT fast!"**

Ash smirked, repressing a laugh. Clearly this guy hadn't watched the Grandmaster Championship. He thought _that_ was fast? Ash never could resist an opportunity to show off. _"_Pikachu! Show off your **real** speed!"

Pikachu, still moving suddenly had very wide and happy eyes. The look was not too different from the one he had when offered Ketchup. "Chupi?!" _Really?!_

Ash grinned. "Flash Step!"

"CHA!" _YES!_ Pikachu's cheeks suddenly started to glow, in an instant they had turned from red to yellow, loaded with power. Now he just needed to wait...

Weavile once again slashed, the fastest and strongest thrust making its course right for Pikachu. It was close, a foot, half a foot, a few inches, an inch, half an inch...

Weavile could have felt the fur on Pikachu's face...

...but there was nothing there.

There had only been a very brief flash of yellow, and Pikachu was _gone_. No traces, no sound, nothing. One instant there he was, glowing cheeks then the next there was a flash of light where Pikachu had been and he was just gone.

Only Ash knew where he was, and he couldn't help but smirk. Pikachu did like to play games...

Weavile and Harrison were desperately trying to find out where Pikachu had gone too, worrying about a sudden sneak attack but none came. Pikachu had just opted to disappear, but where? He waited for ten seconds, twenty, thirty, but nothing. Wherever Pikachu had gone too was not something the mouse felt like giving away.

"RIGHT THERE!"

"WOW HE'S FAST!"

"AMAZING!"

Harrison blinked, as did Weavile, the crowd found Pikachu! But where was he?! The crowd grew louder and louder as they found what he was still looking for! He looked around franticly, and his eyes briefly found Ash, whose eyes briefly signalled downwards. Harrison looked down at his feet.

Pikachu waved up at him. "Pi." _Hi._

A shocked Weavile turned around, spotting his target before growling. He jumped, pulling back a claw for another attack, this would be even faster and stronger than the last, no-one made a fool of him! He got within range, swiping the claw with immense rage.

"Chu!" _Bye!_

The claw found only air.

Pikachu had moved to Ash's side of the arena.

Harrison had the brief luxury to try and analyse the Flash Step in detail, but there was nothing to examine! Pikachu lit up his cheeks, then there were two small flashes. One where he vanished, one where he reappeared, each almost an instant from each other. That's all there was to see! How was he supposed to hit something that could move like **that**?

Ash smiled to himself as he looked at Harrison, he knew that look. He knew it all too well. He wasn't the first to show it, and he wouldn't be the last. That was the look that only a few managed to _not_ find themselves wearing. It was the moment they realized hitting Pikachu was just _not_ going to happen.

It was when they realized that defeat was inevitable.

Now Ash would admit that he wasn't the smartest person on planet earth, not by a long shot. He was (though he'd never admit it) rather dense when it came to a lot of things (a compiled list would be a very long document). However, Ash was smarter than people gave him credit for, at least he was at times. Most of the time his mind was one track, but there were those moments, rare, elusive, but when they came about something amazing happened.

Ash became a genius. If there was **one** thing he did know, and was a true artist in, it was creating original moves, and Flash Step was his single grandest masterpiece. It would see many attempts at imitation over the years, but no-one would even come close to mimicking it perfectly (or even decently), except those Ash (and Pikachu) taught it to. It'd started with an observation, of how Pikachu's speed greatly increased while performing a Volt Tackle, and so he got wondering, wondering about the possibilities of electricity-enhanced movement. It'd been many long hours of talking with Pikachu about it before the idea just clicked in their minds. It had taken almost an entire year of development, but neither he nor Pikachu would give up on it. They both knew that they had something special on their hands. So they kept working, and working at it until finally it just happened. The Flash Step had been born. Even after development there was a refining period, one that took a share of the training prior to the Grandmaster Championship.

It had taken two whole months for Pikachu to master moving at the speed he could now (how he'd manage to evade a concussion in the process neither had any idea, many cave walls on the other hand still bore Pikachu-shaped holes, and Ash was certain there was a Pikachu-shaped dent in his ribcage now). After training was done however, it was clear; if not just 'one of', then Pikachu was perhaps _the_ fastest Pokémon alive. Until the Championship, Flash Step was kept secret from the world, and even through most of that, but against Hoenn's current Regional Champion, Steven Stone (the first Regional Champion he fought at the championship), Ash felt it was time to stop hiding. The secret had come out to the world.

The battle was ended as swiftly as Pikachu's movements, and from then on trying to hit Pikachu was the goal of every trainer who had taken him on. Only a few had managed it, but no-one could land a decisive blow on the Electric Mouse Pokémon. Not even they found a way to stop the Flash Step.

Only Ash and Pikachu knew that secret, and they were going to make damn sure it stayed that way.

Pikachu was grinning, oh how he loved that look! Now there was only one thing that could make this better. "Pikapi! Ka pi pikachu pi chu?" _Ash! Can I have a little fun?_

Ash blinked. "Fun? What do you have in-" He looked to Pikachu's tail, it was wagging quickly. _"That might help...mess around during the battle..."_ He smiled. "Go for it. Iron Tail Volleyball!"

"CHA!" He vanished again, and there wasn't even a second before Weavile found an Iron Tail colliding with his chin. "Chu!" _Serve!_

Weavile was knocked off his feet, and was sent coursing through the air like a Pokédoll, but what goes up must come down, and Weavile soon found itself facing rapidly raising ground. Until a flash appeared again for a brief instant. "Cha!" _Pass!_

Another blow, another trip through the air, another patch of rapidly approaching ground. Until "Cha!" This time Weavile was sent directly up, rather than across the arena. He was facing upwards so he couldn't see Pikachu grinning.

"Piiiiiiiii..." _Annnnndddd..._ He was gone again, this time appearing in the sky, just above Weavile, and span to deliver the "KA!" _SPIKE!_

The tail slammed into Weavile with immense force, and like a rocket the he was sent blasting to the ground. There wasn't an explosion, but with the suddenly burst of dust there might as well have been. Pikachu landed just outside the range of the 'explosion', smiling to himself, that was fun!

Ash could tell Pikachu was letting the fun cloud his battle instincts. "Keep on guard! He might get back up!"

"Pika chu." _Doubt it._ He grinned wider.

When the dust parted Weavile was revealed to have made a small crater in the middle of the arena, his eyes little more than spirals as it become clear he wouldn't be fighting anymore. Not that it'd have mattered. How do you fight something you couldn't even hit? Pikachu's little fun had put his opponent down for the count, and to think. Iron Tail Volleyball had been developed merely as a training game.

"**Weavile is unable to battle! Grandmaster Ash Ketchum is the winner!"**

Once again the crowds roared, from all sides screams of adoration and glee rained down upon the recently crowned Grandmaster but he paid them no mind. His hands were still shaking, so bad that he'd closed them into fists. What the hell was that? That wasn't a fight! That was...his teeth gritted, but he forced himself into a composed state again. He'd worry about this later, _much_ later. He had enough problems as it was.

Harrison withdrew Weavile with a flash of red light, a grimace on his face as he did so, that had been a heavy blow to his Pokémon, and his pride. Still he managed to smile. "Good battle Ash. You really are strong enough to be Grandmaster. I'll train hard, and make sure I'm at the championship one day."

Ash nodded, smiling. "See you there."

Harrison nodded too, before he walked off. Ash watched him go with curious eyes, wondering eyes. What had happened? Four years ago Harrison had been the one to walk away with the victory, if narrowly, and now...well now Harrison wasn't even in his league. He didn't get it. Sure, Ash understood that he'd trained extremely hard for the championship, and it's natural that he would have a stronger team. But surely...Harrison should have been stronger that that, right?

He watched Harrison walk into the shadowed hall that was on his side of the arena, and from where he stood Ash could see who was inside. There was three people there, all about Harrison's age, the two boys gave him a slap on the shoulders and Ash guessed some encouraging words, before the female of the group suddenly embraced him. Like a hammer arm it suddenly hit Ash with immense force.

Ash had sacrificed everything else, and won it all.

Harrison had not, but still won a lot.

Sacrifice...Ash could have really thought about this, but his feelings turned to the more convenient form of anger, and that anger quickly moved towards a convenient fact to target. How he'd been...cheated. How he'd been subjected to that mockery of a battle!

Ash turned, venting a noise akin to a growl as he walked off, Pikachu on shoulder. His steps were rushed, deliberate and angry. The crowds ate it up, in days to come they'd say of how the Grandmaster was so incredibly bored in the battle that he'd taken the first opportunity to leave.

Once again, only a few truly knew Ash to know that wasn't the case.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty saw him leave. She stood up.

She went after him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

She watched her son leave, and she knew right away something was wrong. She was about to stand up when-

Delia felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to face the Dragon Master. "Sorry, Mrs Ketchum. He has to really come to terms with things, and he has to do it alone." He turned and smiled. "Just be there when he's done, alright? That's when he'll need you."

Delia looked distressed, but she wasn't a Pokémon trainer, she didn't understand the inner workings of a trainers mind, and Lance did seem a trustworthy man. He wouldn't dispense deliberately bad advice.

Still, she didn't like just sitting this one out, but if it was the best way to help Ash, she would. And she'd always be there when he needed her. Her thoughts were suddenly shattered when she noticed something, a familiar figure sneaking right into where Ash had gone.

She smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An empty locker room had its serene silence shattered as its door was thrashed open. A restless Ash found his way inside, Pikachu jumping down as Ash's body started shifting randomly.

"Pika chu?" _What's wrong?_

"I don't know!" His fist hit a locker. "Dammit!" He hit it again. "Just leave me alone!" He took a breath, violently shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just..." He forced himself to breathe. "...I don't what's wrong and I don't wanna take it out on you. You're one of the few I have left...please, just let me have some time on my own."

"Pikapi..." _Ash..._

"Pikachu..._please_."

Pikachu looked up at his friend, he didn't know what was wrong this time. This was new, a new problem, perhaps the starting of a different spectrum of problems. For so long battling had been part of their lives, what did it mean when battling actually became a problem?

He didn't know what he could do, and Ash wasn't going to tell him what was wrong yet.

Not until he understood it himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty had moved swiftly, and more than once nearly lost track entirely of Ash. She'd had to stop, and listen to footsteps before continuing onwards but even that had eventually stopped. It was only by the mumblings of a familiar Pokémon had Misty finally taken the right turn.

She turned a corner into the locker rooms to find Pikachu, sitting up against the wall with his arms crossed, clearly worried. "Pikachu?"

His ears twitched, and he looked up to see. "Pikachupi! Cha Pikapi, pika! Pi chu ka chu pikachu pika pi kachupi kachu. Pika chu kaka pika." _Misty! Help Ash, please! I don't know what's wrong with him and he won't talk to me. Only you can reach him._

She guessed right away Ash was inside the door, and she put Azurill down before walking to the door and opening it Had she only understood Pikachu's words fully, they might have reached her bitter heart, and combined with what she found, it might, might have just been enough to put her defences down. She might have reached out with an open heart.

Maybe that would have been enough to sever the distance.

She found Ash pacing the locker room, panting, angrily ranting in mumbles to himself. She had trouble making out what he was saying, but some phrases emerged from the muttered rantings.

"...damn waste of time...idiot...shouldn't have..."

Ash hadn't even noticed anyone had come in. He soon stopped pacing, instead his body expressing its frustration in other ways. He'd finally stopped moving, his angered breath quickly growing heavier as his hands clenched tighter, his pain, rage, frustration and confusion reflected in the eyes that had still yet to notice Misty was even there. His body started to shake, the cause of which Misty wasn't sure, but the frustration his body betrayed only seemed to be getting stronger, as did everything else. Ash was a volcano of emotion, wild, confused and damaging emotion and he looked close to eruption. He was still muttering to himself but Misty was no longer paying attention. She couldn't leave him like this. Against all reason, all the bitterness in her heart, all the pain, against everything she did the only thing she could think to do.

She strode forward, and wrapped her arms around him.

Ash stopped shaking, stopped speaking, stopped...almost everything. Now there was almost silence, the only sound Ash's heavy breath as he stood there, transfixed in the embrace that had claimed him. For a time, this was how things were. Ash didn't speak, not in words of a spoken language. He found other ways to speak, his breathing slowed, his body slowly relaxed, every handful of seconds showing another stage of his dissent from his stress. In time Ash blinked, slowly, his face slowly changing, relaxing. His mouth closed, his shoulders finally ceasing their near-violent motion.

He slowly raised his arms, hesitantly, but instinctively placing them around her. He finally leaned in, letting his head come to rest next to her own as he closed his eyes. Finally, his breathing was relaxed. He took a moment, to breathe in deep, filling himself with the scent that he could only have called 'Misty'. It was _her_, and she made him...he exhaled...so at peace. It was gone. The frustration, the anger, the confusion was all gone. This moment, this embrace, and Misty were all that mattered.

He smiled, and clasped Misty just a little tighter and closer to himself. Misty too smiled, and did the same. Now there was only the two of them, standing against one another, almost as one. All they really knew was one another, a memory searing into their minds as they stood there, taking it the details of one they held.

Ash took in how Misty had somehow become slightly shorter than him, her form now a subtle mixture of delicate and strength, but somehow all of her seemed to be so welcoming. 'Scrawny tomboy' was something which Misty had long since ceased to be. Gone was the little girl who 'looked like a boy' as Ash had so tactlessly put it in his younger days. She had become a young woman. One who felt wonderful just to hold. What had time done with that little girl who'd fished him out of that lake?

It didn't matter. No matter how much she changed. No matter how much she grew. Misty...he breathed her in again...would always be Misty.

Misty took in how much Ash had changed. He'd grown so much, a strong upper body having replaced the muscle-less but fat less one she remembered, his arms and body carved by the trials he had put himself through for his goal. His arms held such strength, and gave her such comfort and feeling of safety. What had time done with that little boy who'd destroyed her bike?

It didn't matter, because even though time had passed, and things had changed...she breathed in his scent, oh how she'd missed it...Ash would always be Ash.

Both gripped just a bit tighter, moved just a little closer, lost themselves in the embrace just a little more

Were it only possible to bottle things such as this, to perfectly preserve the most precious and perfect things. The scents, feelings, touch. Yes, touch should have been preservable, and this moment among the first to find itself cast in time, ever re-playable on a whim, every detail explorable a thousand times, and a thousand again, and perhaps...a thousand more after that. The feelings of warmth, of comfort, the way they just _were_, a moment of tranquillity, free of all of their history, all of their pain. Everything else faded away, leaving only two young would-be lovers where they belonged.

How could something so simple be so wonderful?

How could something so wonderful be so...tainted?

Only out of sheer will, Misty lowered her arms, and like the surface of glass the moment started to crack, and soon the brittle covering briefly hiding the truth would shatter, and the destructive light behind would shine right through. The world that Ash had created would dominate reality once more, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, and he knew that he had no right to try to do so.

Still...Ash could not refrain from stealing an extra handful of seconds, and one last breath of her.

Then finally, the glass shattered. Ash let his arms fall from her, let them fall to his side, his world seeming to fall with them as she took a step away. For a moment both still stood there, gazing into the eyes of the other, with so much that could have been said, yet they said nothing. Years of distance, of doubt, of mistakes and resentment cast its venom into the air, and neither knew what to say to the other. It was such a strange thing, how emotions could so easily sway reason, where even a simply apology might have helped calm the tides of the moment, or "why?" could have swept it forward, if into uncertain seas, yet both chose to remain in the crushing waves of their silence.

Misty slowly turned around, before slowly walking away. She found the door she'd entered through, opened it and parted through it without a glance back. She left in silence.

Silence...

"Misty..." There was a brief splash as a drop hit the ground. Ash was shaking again, his face bowed as his expression twitched, first once before more and more joined it. Once again Ash was fighting something down, fighting something desperate to get out. He fell to his knees, his fight robbing him of his power to stand as he forced his gaze downwards. His mouth twitched, his teeth clasped together, gritting against one another even. He gave a gasping breath, his teeth parted briefly, and something almost escaped, but Ash's defences were not yet so broken that it escaped fully, it was choked back. He grasped both sides of his head, his hands pushing upwards, slipping under the fabric of his hat. He slowly pushed upwards, forcing it ever upwards, higher and higher as his body shook.

It fell, and with it so did Ash's defences. As it hit the ground his head was thrown back, his fists slamming into the floor with all the force they possessed, his back arched, his body unified in a single act.

Silence became long forgotten as it fell before a single sound.

A sound of Rage.

A sound of Sorrow.

A sound of Pain.

A sound of Regret.

But most of all it was underlined with Blame.

Blame upon himself.

Until once again...there was silence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_What have you done to me?"_

"I've...broken you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Chapter

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Notes:

Angst and Ash in a battle, what more do you want?

What's that? You want a book that doesn't need to use over 13,000 words just to make one chapter without much plot advancement? You better go read another book then, because this one's written by a lazy ass who **loves** hearing himself talk.

Show of hands (or say so in reviews as the case may be): Who honestly thought Misty was going to follow Ash and just forgive him, no questions asked? I think the way I constructed her reactions to Ash's distress could have given that impression (yes, a tweaking may have been a good idea in retrospect), so I'm curious.

Before anyone decides to wonder; yes, there was a point to showing Ash battle (besides the obvious changes in himself). I have something planned for it, trust me. Let's just say this is not the last of Ash's battles you'll see.

Some of you will likely say it, so before you do; Flash Step does seem **very** overpowered for a move (was designed to be that way), but just wait. _That's_ going to be addressed too. It's not as flawless as it seems.

Both the above points will be addressed in the same part of the story. Trust me, when I overdo something and get it wrong, oh yes it's horrible, nightmarish even (you should see my absolute worst screw-ups. Wait, actually you probably shouldn't), but when I get it right, oh then it's something for ages.

Now let's see if I can get it right.

To May and Dawn fans (and to a lesser extent, Brock fans):

Sorry I haven't included the three in the book much, but the focus of the story really is really on Ash and Misty for the most part, for obvious reasons (okay, Ash more than Misty but you get my point). I will attempt to include them more but I make no promises.

Minor thing, but it's info I may need for later:

Does anybody know if Ash had any kind of portable communication device by the time he went to Unova/got in Unova (in the cannon)? Like a PokéNav/PokéGear or something? If it's never been clarified in the series I'll just throw something in, but if there was an actual device he was using I wanna know.

Answers in review or via PM are fine.

Thanks in advance.

One Last thing: Chapter titles!

Suppose I should get around to titling chapters, so I'm open to suggestions. PM me any suggestions you have, and please state what chapter you're suggesting the title for.

If your suggestion wins you'll get the credit in the author's notes.


	6. Counting the Changes

Author's Notes:

Took a lot longer than I'd original intended, but here you go. It's another long one. You know the drill, have something with caffeine in it handy. Expect this a lot in future chapters.

Enjoy.

Minor note: To help differentiate between Author's notes and the actual chapter, I'll be putting in bold the X's which separate the two. Will also do it for the chapter ends as well. You know, for the benefit of those who don't actually read the author's notes. But now I think about it, those who don't read the notes probably wont read this part either...

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Not for the first time, Ash's dreams that night were of no help to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash walked out into a familiar arena, but he was not alone. This time Pikachu was with him, perched as ever upon his shoulder. Neither said anything, the old company with them being Ash's footsteps, as was all too common.

As was their current norm. The arena was again dark, empty. The darkness was vast, he could not even see the stands of his arena, only darkness. There was no-one else here, save only for the other occupant. Ash took his place, standing at his side of the immense field that was the Grandmaster Championship Stadium battleground. His opponent across from him.

His opponent, himself, another look back in time at his ten year old self. Had Ash been concious, he'd have been able to grasp the difference this time. This time the ten year old was not angry, nor looking to settle a vendetta. A familiar but long lost smile greeted the older Ash. "Alright! I'm gonna beat you and become Pokémon Grandmaster!"

"Bring it on!"

The trainer and the Grandmaster took a stance, and like two gun slingers waiting for the signal to draw their hands shifted just a bit closer to their belts.

The silent signal to begin battle sounded, and both Ash's reached for their first combatants.

"Bulbasaur!"

"Sceptile!"

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur emerged with his name and a serious expression, but his eyes were happy. He found his opponent instantly.

Sceptile emerged silently, already in a battle stance. Sceptile lightly shifted the small stick in his mouth, ready to discard it at a seconds' notice.

The moment dragged on, neither making a move, neither trainer giving a command.

At least not to a Pokémon. Ash's voice betrayed his impatience as he spoke to his younger self. "Make a move already will ya?"

The trainer smiled. He reached up for his hat. He grasped the front and with a swift pull turned the hat backwards.

He was ready to go. "Bulbasaur, use razor leaf!"

"Bulba!" From under the bud on his back, Bulbasaur sprang forth dozens of leaves in a funnel formation. The barrage of leaves quickly closed in on Sceptile, and unless his trainer gave an order they were going to hit.

"Block 'em all with Leaf Blade." The barrage of leaves were cut down by glowing green blades quick as a flash, and leaf halves floated to the ground, utterly nullified.

The trainer blinked for just a second, quickly composing a plan. "Rush him and use Vine Whip!"

"Saur!" Bulabsaur rushed forward, springing forth his vines and sending them ahead of himself at Sceptile as he continued running. The vines quickly closed in.

The older Ash's eyes narrowed. _"What's he up to?"_ "Grap 'em, Sceptile!" Sceptile raised his claws, snatching the vines out of the air easily, negating the first attack.

The second however. "Take down!" Bulbasaur jumped, slamming head-first into Sceptile stomach. "Alright!" The Hoenn-native Pokémon was pushed back slightly by the force of the blow, but wasn't even the slightest bit fazed. Sceptile grabbed Bulbasaur by the head and threw him back half-heartedly, letting him land on his feet.

"Clever move. Now hit harder!"

The younger Ash was silent for a moment as a bead of sweat made its way down his face, he'd obviously expected Take Down to do at least some damage. He grinned, he'd try something else then. "Bulbasaur, use Solarbeam!"

The tip of Bulbasaur's bud was briefly shrouded in light before-"Saurrr!" The tip fired it's white stream of energy, with only a single target in mind.

Ash's hand twitched. _"This can't-" _"Deflect it!" The beam of white light quickly approached Sceptile, who batted out an arm almost lazily. The beam bounced right off, being directed far closer to his own trainer, who didn't even seem to noticed as the blast detonated near him. _"He can't be-!" _"Leaf Storm!" Sceptile's back was alight as his seeds started to glow, then each started to release green leaves, each the same number, in sync as the numbers grew.

One.

Ten.

One hundred.

The storm reached Bulbasaur before any response command could be given. The air was filled with the sounds of Bulbasaur's cries as the attack cut into him at every angle, the force of them throwing him off his feet. Soon the seed Pokémon was swept off his feet, being carried through the air and continuously attacked by hundreds of leaves. Sceptile jumped after his target, and both vanished into the darkness at the edges of the arena.

Silence fell, for a moment. A moment before-

"Go, Squritle!"

"Feraligatr!"

The two water Pokémon emerged at the exact same time.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle was grinning from the second he appeared.

"Terrr." Feraligatr lightly waved his tail. He was ready. There was no crowd to dance for, so he kept still.

The younger Ash didn't need prompting this time. "Squirtle, Water Gun!" Squirtle released a stream of water at Feraligatr, who danced out of the way without an order. Squirtle tried three more times, but each were evaded. One by raising his foot, the next by shifting his head, the third by twirling.

Still Ash gave no order.

The younger Ash on the other hand, had an idea. "Jump into the sky! Try attacking from the air!" Squirtle nodded, running forward to start building up speed before kicking himself up into the air, blasting Water Gun blasts as he went. Once more they were all evaded, even from the various angles the blasts came from Feraligatr gracefully, almost artfully evaded them. Still he received no order.

He assumed he'd never receive one, so he'd fight on his own, it's something Ash did from time to time. He shifted himself close to where Squirtle was going to land, twirling his tail around...

The trainer had to make some _very_ quick thinking. "Use Water Gun on the tail! Blast yourself away!"

The blast hit the tail, and he was pushed **just** out of the range of the swing. Squritle landed closer to the older version of his trainer.

He'd ran out of patience. "Slash!"

Feraligatr flexed a claw, steeping forward and preparing to slash. He struck the claw down.

"Squirtle! Use your Water Gun to propel yourself past him!" Quick as a flash Squirtle turned around, aiming his mouth to the ground before blasting off a stream of water and evading the claw completely. Squirtle, via the use of 'Water Gun jet-pack' passed Feraligatr by. Feraligatr turned to look where Squirtle had landed behind him, and shifted his body, raising his tail to deliver a crushing (literally) blow. "Blast yourself through his legs!" The tail missed, Squirtle landing right under Feraligatr's nose (almost literally). "Now propel yourself upward!" He did, and before Feraligatr could react Squirtle had slammed himself in his jaw, knocking it shut and Feraligatr's head upwards, with Squirtle still rising. "Good job, Squirtle!"

Feraligatr blinked, that was...something. He snapped out of it as his trainer gave what would be his last command for this round.

"Grab him and use Iron Tail."

Feraligatr jumped, snatching Squirtle out of the air, to a distressed cry of his trainer. He landed, briefly letting go of Squirtle go before smashing a metal tail into the side of Squirtle's face, sending it sailing through the air into the darkness.

Feraligatr pursued, and no more was to be heard from either.

Ash looked at his younger self, who was grinning. "Wow, you're strong. How did you get so good?"

He smiled, sadly. "Lots of training." His smile faded. "Now come on. You can do better than what you've shown me so far."

The younger Ash grabbed a Pokémon. "Go, Pidgeotto!"

Pigeotto emerged with an excited cry, flapping its wings as it hovered in the air, taking a glance at the arena around it. Pidgeotto would in the air, and would not come down until ordered to.

Ash took a couple of seconds to decide. "Got you an opponent, Scrafty!"

Scrafty emerged with a thud, his feet slamming into the ground in excitement. Scrafty's head shot in all directions, where was his opponent, where was it? Where was it!? He wanted to fight! Now! The sound of flapping caught his attention. Scrafty took one look at his opponent and sighed. He didn't seem that tough. He bashed his fists together. Oh well, a fight was a fight.

Pigeotto's trainer grinned. "Alright! I got the type advantage! Pigeotto, use Gust!" Pigeotto gave one brief cry, before rapidly flapping his wings, his wings creating the potent breeze meant to blow Scrafty away.

"Hold your ground." One at a time, Scrafty raised his legs, slamming them into the ground with enough force to indent them. He simple stood there after that, not caring even as his 'clothes' were battered by the winds. It was almost half a minute before Pigeotto gave up.

His trainer on the other hand; "Quick attack!"

Pigeotto dived, tucking in his wings and spiralling as he precise aim at Scrafty, shooting through the air with great speed. A couple of seconds was all it took for him to get close.

Pigeotto was so close..."Mach Punch!"

There was a blur, and Pigeotto was blasted away by the sheer force of the sudden punch. He was sent sailing into the darkness. Scrafty took a second to pull himself out of the ground before pursuing his opponent with a scowl. Silence fell again.

"_He is...but..." _"Ash, surrender! You can't win!"

The younger Ash wasn't disheartened in the least. "I'm not giving up! Go, Muk!"

Muk emerged with a happy cry of his own name, taking a quick look around and finding his trainer's opponent. Muk looked like he wanted to make his way across the arena, to greet the new but somehow familiar human, but this was a battle. He decided against it, begrudgingly.

Maybe later.

Or not. "Fine! Be awake, Snorlax!"

Snorlax emerged with a yawn.

He was awake, luckily. _"This __will__ be__ quick!"_

His younger versions' sentiment exactly. "Sludge bomb!" Muk opened his mouth, releasing a barrage of spheres of purest filth.

"Evade it and get close!"

With amazing speed for something his size, Snorlax sidestepped the attack and ran towards his opponent, sidestepping every subsequent barrage easily, even as he grew closer and closer.

Snorlax was right before his foe. "Ice Punch!"

Snorlax pulled by a fist, and in an instant he threw it. The ice-covered limb slammed into Muk, but like so many other attacks it was somewhat negated by Muk's unique body. Not all of the force was stopped, as Muk was sent sliding back, pain evident on his features, but that was not the true aim of the attack.

No, the true aim was the ice that was quickly spreading from where the limb struck.

"Oh no, Muk!" It was too late, the ice had already spread across the front of its target, and quickly covered its back. Now Muk was completely enveloped inside the ice. Still Muk's body kept sliding, going further and further away, until it passed into the darkness.

Snorlax gave one grunt of its name before jumping after Muk. Soon he was gone too.

The silence lasted only an instant, both breaking it at the same time.

Both reached for their Pokémon at the same time.

Both gave the same command at the same time.

"Charizard!"

The older Charizard appeared with a heavy growl, quickly glancing around and finding his opponent. After a few seconds of glancing he merely blinked; not worthy.

Otherwise he'd have already gone on the assault.

The younger Charizard arced his neck up slightly to get a better look at his opponent's face. This was a first, another Charizard, a lot bigger too, but size wasn't always a marker of power, and his opponent didn't exactly act any kind of intimidating. He didn't even seem to be paying attention. Charizard shook his head; not interested.

When was he ever?

His trainer on the other hand; "Alright, Charizard, we can take him!" He gave a small, unimpressed grunt, before shaking his head. He started to flap his wings, removing his feet from the ground. "Charizard, listen to me!"

There wasn't a chance of that. The younger Ash ducked a flamethrower before its caster flew up into the sky, flying in the sky above. He flew around and around for a moment, creating an impressive/unimpressive (depends which Ash you asked) whirlwind below.

The older Ash knew what to do. "Get his attention." The older Charizard opened his jaw and cast his own flamethrower, deliberately missing his opponent. A direct hit would have ended the battle. The flying Charizard looked down, he'd been challenged. He flew down, target in his sights.

The younger Ash was ecstatic. "Alright! Get him Charizard! Try using take down!" The descending Charizard opened his jaw, sending down his own pitiful (by comparison to what his target was capable of) stream of fire, disregarding the command he'd been given.

"Block it." The older and bigger Charizard stretched out a wing, angling it and himself to block the blaze. The caster growled, but still kept coming at him. Charizard jumped from the ground, it cracking like glass as the sheer force of the jump that shot him high into the sky, the flapping of his wings sending him far higher than his opponent had been. Without order from either Ash the battle took place in the skies.

The younger Charizard turned flamethowers on his older self, each one being effortlessly evaded. He tried to fly closer, but every effort was met with more distance, every stream of fire met with evasion, every roar met with a smirk.

Far below two Ash's watched. Charizard on Charizard aerial combat...seemed very familiar somehow.

One Ash watched with worry in his eyes, the other...

Ash raised an arm to the skies, before pointing downwards.

Suddenly the larger Charizard was a slave to gravity again, and he went sailing down. His adversary pursued, and he deliberately slowed down, to let his target catch up, he knew what was coming, somehow, and his guess was right, hearing his trainer's voice

"Steel wing."

Charizard's wings glowed, he let his counterpart come closer to him and lightly batted his target with his right wing. 'Lightly' being hard enough to knock him out of the air, sending him spiralling down. The younger Charizard slammed into the ground, his assailant landing softly quickly after next to his fallen form.

The younger Ash cried out. "Charizard! Stop fighting, you're hurt!"

Out of a bruised pride, the younger Charizard turned his flamethrower on his older self, engulfing the target's face in the blaze instantly. For all the good it did, he might as well have just breathed on him instead. This was a hopeless battle, but he would not back down.

So the older Ash would put him down. "Charizard is your strongest and that's all you have." He clenched a fist. "Inferno!"

The older Charizard roared, opening his jaw as his tail, mouth and even his eyes were suddenly aglow with immense fire. From Charizard it was like a new sun was born and exploded all at once, both were almost instantly devoured by the fires that spread out from his mouth and tail, and went only further. From the center of the ring the fires spread out, covering the arena like a tidal wave, and the blazes shot upwards, like a geyser into the sky. The younger Ash screamed, him and his Pikachu trying to shield themselves from the sheer _heat_ the fires emitted. The older Ash didn't even blink, and stood like a statue as the fires came as close as they ever would. Eventually the explosion calmed, but the fires remained, burning across the entire arena.

Ash walked forward, between the walls of fire that was scattered over the arena. The cause, and victim of the inferno were already gone, leaving Ash walking towards his younger self through an empty field. The fires around did not even begin to match that burning within him. _"How..." _He passed through the center of the blaze, loose traces of flame lightly burning parts of his clothes but still he continued walking, his fists, and face growing tighter. _"How?"_

The younger Ash took a step back, before, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" The younger Pikachu leapt into the air "PikaCHUUU!"

The older Ash did not even glance at him. "Skull Bash."

The older Pikachu leapt from his Ash's shoulder, taking the force of the thunderbolt without stopping or flinching. He angled his head, shrouded in a golden aura, and slammed into his younger self, sending them both flying into the darkness beyond their trainers. Whatever would happen from there was not something either version of Ash would to see, but it was clear.

The battle was over. _"How?!"_

Still Ash advanced on his younger counterpart_. _He grabbed his younger self by the throat as he screamed at himself, "How are you so weak!?" He raised the boy up, right off his feet, as high as his arm could reach. The younger Ash gripped at his arm in vain, he was not strong enough to throw off his older, enraged self. "Tell me!" Both gripped tighter. "TELL ME!"

The younger Ash laughed, before his eyes opened, once again the venom was within them, as his voice turned cruel, cold, and full of laughter.

"Because I'm not like you! I'm not alone!"

His laughter was silenced as Ash's grip turned to that of a vice. His chocolate eyes saw only a bloody red. His grip continued to grow tighter as his shoulders began to shake. He raised a hand, snarling as his eyes glowed with a burning rage that made the surrounding fires seem little more than dying candlelight.

The rage struck.

The blow landed. The younger Ash...became ash, his form breaking and falling to the wind, slipping through the older Ash's fingertips like sand. The fires continued to burn around him, the rhythmic sound of burning all he could hear. The blazes all he could see. The feeling of isolation and heat all he knew. The fires grew, wider and higher, and soon he was left in a world on fire. He was quite alone now, still enraged, still dissatisfied, still so confused about so much and all he could see anywhere was the fire.

All he could see...

"You took him from me."

He's head snapped around. That voice-!

"Misty..."

His body followed. There she was, standing at the end of a suddenly open pathway between two blazes, gazing at him with-no, it couldn't be... "He was my best friend. And you took him from me!"

He took a step forward. "I am your best friend! I'm Ash!"

Her eyes flared. "No you're not! Ash was nice! He was kind! He was good! He cared about his friends. He cared about me!"

He took that step back, stricken. Before, "I do care about you! I care about you more than anyone!"

"No you don't! You abandoned me! You'd never have done that if you cared about me, and I don't care about you!" The fires around them grew, but all Ash could see was her, and hear only her words.

"I hate you!"

Even with all the fire, his insides became like ice. "No..." He shook, suddenly it was like he couldn't breathe, "No!"

He ran forward, into the inferno, running down the pathway as quick as he could, but no matter how fast he moved, how far he ran she never seemed to grow closer. Instead her voice emanated from the blaze like an echo. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."

Still he ran, never faltering even as the fires grew hotter still. "Misty!" The fries started to close in, reaching closer and closer, the fire almost seeming like it wanted to _devour_ him as he too somehow got closer. But even those fires could not match that within her eyes...

"I HATE YOU!"

The fires grasped him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"NO!"

Ash was sitting up, bordering hyperventilation as his mind was still processing those words, the only sound still echoing through his head. _"__I hate you!__"_ "Misty, no..." _"__I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!__"_ It wouldn't stop! She wouldn't stop! He grabbed his head, oblivious to the world as he shut his eyes. "Please don't hate me. Misty, please don't...please..." _"__I HATE YOU!__"_ "Misty!" He didn't realize he was crying.

Pikachu did. He'd been woken by Ash's weeping, but trying to get his attention proved futile. He didn't want to shock him, so where did that leave him? Ash was still muttering the same thing, begging Misty not to hate him.

He was going to ask just what the hell had happened yesterday when he next had Ash alone. Pikachu turned, rushing towards the door that was Delia's room in the apartment. Jumping up to operate the door, he rushed in, lighting tapping Delia awake.

She stirred, opening her eyes. "Pikachu?" Then she heard it.

"Pikapi."

Even she knew when Pikachu was saying "Ash", she got to her feet, and moved so quickly Pikachu was forced to run to keep up with her. She found Ash sat up, clutching his head, still muttering to himself, "Please...please don't..." Something caused him to flinch, and he curled up just a little more.

She made her way over to his bed, following her instincts as she clasped him to her. She raised a hand to his head, lightly stroking his hair. "Shh, Ash, it's okay. It's okay." His hands reacted, parting from his head to near his chest, they were shaking. What had gotten him like this?

"...don't hate me, Misty..." He flinched again.

She pulled him a little closer, continuing her efforts to calm him. "It's okay Ash, it was just a dream. She doesn't hate you. She doesn't. Misty would never hate you."

With every attempt at convincing him, he'd only flinch and weep again.

"_I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"_

Delia continued stroking his hair, gently trying to calm him, but the worry in her eyes was starting to build. He was only getting worse. She looked to a worried Pikachu, her eyes silently pleading for something, anything which might help.

Pikachu jumped from the bed, quickly locating something. He carried it over, placing it in the bed before reaching into it and dragging out two familiar items and presenting them to Delia. She gave them a shocked look for a second, before placing them in Ash's shaking hands.

They stopped shaking. He grasped them tightly, the screaming in his head was starting to quiet down. "Misty..." _"I hate you..."_ He pulled them closer to himself. "Please..." _"...I hate you..." _"Please don't hate me, Misty..." He pulled them to his heart.

"...I need you." Finally, she stopped.

Ash's breathing finally calmed down, the tears stopped coming. After a moment Delia was satisfied, Ash had fallen back to sleep. She lay him down again, placing the blanket over him before kissing his forehead. She bid goodnight to Pikachu before departing for her own room again, making sure to keep the door open a little this time, but she'd not be going to sleep just yet.

She'd been, thoroughly disappointed when not only did Ash fail to return with Misty, he'd returned in a very _interesting_ mood, and not in a good way. Something was bothering him, and what struck her is how he went to the trouble of hiding it. Normally she could easily get things out of him, but yesterday; not a chance, and she'd tried every trick in her book. He'd put up quite a façade, and she couldn't get a thing out of him. She'd tried to ask Pikachu, but even with the communication barrier, she knew he didn't know much of anything either. Whatever Ash was not speaking about was obviously affecting him deeply.

Tomorrow she was going to find Misty.

"_Just let it have been a dream..."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty awoke with a start, needing a moment to realize to fully realize she was in the real world. That dream, it'd been so long since she'd had it she'd nearly forgotten it. Though when she thought about it, it was surprising that it hadn't returned before tonight.

The dream. The dream that seemed to reflect reality, now it almost seemed the reflection was only getting clearer.

In the dream, she'd told him what she'd known for the longest time.

In the dream, he'd given her the answer she'd always feared...always suspected.

In the dream, how things felt between them...were not so different from how they felt now.

He seemed so far away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pikachu was making his way back to the apartment that he (as well as Ash and Delia) were staying at, sucking down a bottle of ketchup as he did. Delia and he had left rather early that morning, Pikachu having gone with her just for something to do (Ash was still asleep). He'd gotten a bottle of ketchup out of the deal, but with a key attached to his neck he'd been sent back. The trip home had been an interesting ordeal, one trainer had spotted him, and fresh from the hype of Ash's battle yesterday decided he wanted a Pikachu.

Pikachu guessed he and his Pokémon would be coming to just about now. A random journalist had figured out exactly whose Pikachu he was after that, but following this particular Pikachu was just not going to happen unless he wanted you to. He felt a little guilty leaving Delia (she was the Grandmaster's mother, she'd be swamped if someone realized that, which considering Ash was the biggest topic in the world right now, it was odd no-one had), but she'd said he could go back to the apartment, practically _insisted_ upon it, actually. She was polite about it, but Pikachu knew she wanted to do something **alone**.

He had a sneaking suspicion what it was.

He threw the finished bottle in the trash _"Should have asked for two, or more. Actually do they sell Ketchup in boxes of bottles?"_ He latched onto the door, and with expert movement he operated the key and opened the door, pulled out the key and had it shut in no time. He threw the key onto a stand, walking into Ash's bedroom.

Empty bed. His ear's perked up, listening for something. Now where was...

He walked out, heading for the bathroom. The door was open, so there was a big give-away. He walked in to find...he sighed.

Currently Ash was in the shower, but instead of washing he was sitting down, apparently unaware of anything around him. Pikachu quickly approached, opening the shower door to take a closer look at Ash's face.

He wasn't here. Not really. His eyes were looking forward, but his mind was who knows where. He didn't seem to notice anything, not Pikachu, not the fact the door had been opened, and not of the water running down his body.

Pikachu's cheeks crackled slightly "Pika Pikapi." _Sorry Ash._

The bathroom was full of light and screaming as Pikachu performed the action he'd apologized for. When he was finished Ash turned on him with murder in his eyes. "You little-come here!" He reached out for Pikachu as quick as a flash.

Not quite as fast as the flash that signified Pikachu disappeared. He was at the other side of the bathroom now, smiling as his ear twitched slightly (his signature "not taking you seriously" annoyance tactic. Often super effective). Alas Ash's own idea had been turned on him. Opponent's couldn't catch Pikachu now. Neither could he.

He could still yell though. "What was that for?!"

"Pikachu, ka pi pika?" _Got you up, didn't it?_

He almost glared, but then he guessed the odds of him moving from his previous position on his own. This was an improvement. "I suppose. Thanks, Pikachu."

Pikachu grinned. "Pi chu!" _Any time!_

Ash quickly turned the shower off, before collecting a towel and starting to dry himself with it. In a few minutes he'd finished, and went into his room to pick out some clothing. It wasn't until he was put on a shirt he spoke up. "Have you seen Mom anywhere?"

"Pi kachu pi ka, ka pi pikachu pika chu. Pika chupipi ka pikachu pi pika pikachu pika." _I went out with her, but then she asked to be left alone. She's up to something and she didn't want company._ He took a few seconds to consider how to ask, but decided upon, "Ka pikachu pika, ka chu?" _You don't remember last night, do you?_

Ash put on a sock with a slight frown. Honestly, those details were very, very vague. He knew he'd woken up, but beyond that drawing details was like finding water in a dry well. All he could remember was a feeling, a feeling caused by Misty...he forced the sock on. All he could recall was begging, praying with all of his being that it wasn't true. He shook his head. "How bad was I?"

"Ka. Chu pi pikachu pi Pikachupi. Chu ka kakapi pi pi ka." _Bad. You were muttering about Misty. You had a __nightmare by the looks of it._

Now _that_ he could remember perfectly. He guessed that's why he found himself waking up with the handkerchief and lure (which he'd since put back, he wanted them close, but actually touching them awoke too many emotions for him to process right now), someone had done some very quick thinking (Pikachu, no doubt). No doubt his Delia had witnessed it in person, and once again had to deal with his faults. He seethed, silently cursing himself. "I shouldn't have come home. Mom doesn't deserve to deal with this." Now she'd gone out again, likely to find some way to deal with how much of a wreck he was-"Oh crap. She's gone to see Misty, hasn't she?"

Pikachu nodded, awkwardly. "Pi kaka pi, ka..." _She didn't say, but..._ He took a close look at Ash, well now was a good enough time as any to ask. "Ka pikachu kakachu? Pikachupi chupi pikachu chu pika pi..." _What happened yesterday? Misty went in and when she left you were..._ He didn't like thinking about _that_.

Apparently neither did Ash, he blinked once before continuing with his dressing routine. "Can we not talk about this?"

Pikachu's ears drooped. "Kachu. Pika chu chu pika chu." _Okay. But I really think you should._

Ash shrugged. "Maybe. But not today."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia was a very patient woman. She was quite capable of waiting for something even for immense amounts of time. All those times Ash went out on his adventures, she waited for his return, knowing that someday he'd stroll right through her door, fresh with new tales to share and laundry in need of cleaning (she wondered if he actually did change his you-know-whats every day). It was only Ash's tour in Unova that had tried her patience, because it was the one she'd worried he'd never come back from as time went on. She'd watched him at the championship, more thrilled that the fact he was actually _alive_ than that he won the title of Grandmaster (though that was a very big thrill). She'd hoped he'd finally come home right after that, but he didn't call her, and quickly she fell into worry. Those few days after the championship had been hard, even with his dream fulfilled...what if he never came home? What if she never saw him again? What if he spent the rest of his life out there in the world? Never calling, never even visiting. Just wandering who knows where, doing who knows what, all on his own? What if she never saw her baby again?

Then came the sound of her Pidgey-shaped knocker and there he was. Even if he wasn't as whole as she'd have wanted him, her son was home. Her patience had paid off, rather handsomely. Ash's dream had been fulfilled, he had nothing to strive for right now, so he'd been home for quite a while. A long while most likely.

Now she really could be sure if she changed his you-know-whats every day.

She'd waited all that time for him to come home, so waiting a single morning for an opportunity was nothing. She'd looked around the local town/miniature city carefully, using all the little titbits of information she knew about Misty to her aid. She'd overheard the previous day that there was some kind of Pokémon League meeting that all Gym leaders were to attend (the exact time however was unknown to her, but she assumed early morning, that was typical according to Misty), so for a portion of the day finding Misty was going to be impossible. So she waited. She had a suspicion that had she tried to call Misty and request a meeting the effort would fail. To avoid her or to avoid Ash, or perhaps both, she wasn't sure, there was a likely possibility that Misty would not want to talk about whatever happened yesterday, but Delia would be damned long before she'd let those two be separate themselves forever.

But she would not fix things either. She would not come out and say what Ash should for him. Ash was not the kind of boy who wanted people doing his work for him, even his own mother. It was one of his best qualities in her eyes. He'd never let anyone else fix his mistakes, even if he couldn't do it himself.

She would not help Ash move any closer to Misty, or spill his heart out, that would be his job. She would not try to move Misty closer to him either, she just had to try to keep Misty from moving further away. Their current emotional distance, though far from ideal (or even pleasant), was at least repairable.

It was either she did something or somewhere along the line Ash could end up with someone else, and giving her son's position in the world right now, it was very possible it would be someone who didn't want to be with him for _him,_ just the title he held. While she didn't have any right in choosing Ash's girlfriends for him, she had a right to her preferences. She preferred Misty, even if she had beat her son's brains in now and then (with good reason, well, passable, okay she didn't like that part but nothing's perfect).

She at least truly cared about him.

Actually, she'd prefer her hitting him with that mallet over the current state of things, and she knew Ash would too.

Speaking of the current state of things, it was time to address it.

Her waiting had once again paid off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty sighed, well that was pretty pointless. She loved battling, she loved Pokémon, but damn did she hate the _politics_ of the league. Yes there were some changes in the regulations, but strangely they didn't seem to have directly been related to her, but they were still suspect (well part of all politics was hiding some kind of agenda). The most notable change was the number of Pokémon a Gym Leader could use. While it was never a rule beforehand, most leaders tended to use three Pokémon or less for official battles, now four was the absolute maximum (the previous being the traditional six). Fortunately there was nothing _official_ about using weaker Pokémon/holding back during official matches, but there was some crap about "encouraging aspiring new trainers" and how beating them into the ground would be a detriment to that end. She'd had to repress a snort at that, as well as berate herself for thinking of _him_.

Ash wouldn't have been disheartened by a harsh beating. He'd just come back the next day (usually) and be the one dishing out said beating. She sighed to herself, trying to remove Ash from her mind. Thinking about him didn't help, not after...

She shook her head, dismissing him from her thoughts, or trying to at least. She was picking between shopping or going to get something to eat, to distract herself in enjoying something. None of her hobbies could make her think of Ash, and by Arceus she was going to have an Ash-thought-free day.

"Misty."

Damn.

Misty stopped walking, and turned to face Delia. She wasn't sure if she should be feeling glad or dread. When her eyes darted around, looking for Ash and finding nothing she decided on something closer to glad.

Closer to glad, but not quite separate from dread.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shoes. Check.

Jacket. Check.

Pants. Check.

Hat. Check.

Cloak. Check. He pulled the hood over his head.

Shield from the world. Check.

Pikachu affixed himself to his shoulder and they were off. He'd left a note affixed to the fridge, so Delia wouldn't worry. It wasn't that he wanted to go out, really, but it was going out, or staying in. In with his thoughts...thoughts of her. He slammed the door shut.

Out was the better option.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia and Misty had taken refuge in the privacy of the shade of a tree. Around them the various sounds of people were dulled by the distance they had put between themselves and them. Azurill was sitting on the ground quietly, its eyes watching a couple of dancing Butterfree with interest. They'd been silent for a moment, Delia waiting for Misty to say something, hoping she would, but for the first time in memory, Misty was trying to avoid her eyes.

So Delia would speak up first. "Misty, if you don't want to tell me what happened between the two of you yesterday, I won't ask. But I know it's bothering Ash, and I know you." Misty finally met her eyes, and Delia had a suspicion what that flash of worry was. "I won't say anything to him, even if he asks."

She was right. Misty visibly relaxed, but it was still a moment before she spoke what was on her mind. "It was never perfect, Delia. After I left him." Her mouth shifted, forming half a smile, but it did not reach her eyes. "But it worked, you know? He was always going off somewhere, but we still talked a lot, and even though he didn't even consider..." She took a breath before continuing. "It was okay. Things were okay." Another moment of silence passed, as Misty leaned back, staring at the sky through the branches of the trees. "Then it just...started. We started talking less and less, and less. I tried, I did. But nothing worked. He just kept, getting further and further from me. Then he went to Unova, and..." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I used to be wanted in his life, Delia. I almost felt needed at times. But now..."

"_...I need you.__" __"If only you knew."_

Misty took a few seconds before, "...now he wont even face me." She lowered his head once more, looking to the ground, but not before Delia caught one brief flash of her eyes. She prayed she hadn't seen what she thought she did.

"H-he doesn't..."

Misty wasn't looking, so she missed it. She missed how Delia's eyes widened, she missed the fear and shock. She missed the thoughts her expression betrayed.

How powerless she felt to stop what was happening before her.

Another moment passed, neither looking at the other, each, unknown to the other, trying to compose themselves. Misty had something to say, Delia something to hide, one was sure of the truth, one knew it was a lie.

Delia composed herself first, which she was thankful for.

Misty sighed, and finally she looked up to meet Delia's eyes. "Delia. No matter what I decide to do, you won't hold it against me, right?"

Only the greatest limits of her will managed to prevent Delia from cracking, from coming out and saying what Misty wanted, perhaps needed to hear at this point. She so wished she could stop this, but even if she did betray her vow not to help Ash, she was sure Misty would simply not believe her.

It was then Delia finally realized, maybe it wasn't so much that she _wouldn't_ help, it's that she _couldn't_. She knew the truth, but Misty was stubborn, and right now, hurt. The truth could have done so much, and Delia could have told her, but it'd perhaps have done more harm than good if she were the one to say it. Misty would believe the truth, but she'd only believe it from one person. Were Delia to say it, Misty would just think she was just being kind. Now it had come to this, to Misty asking one question Delia never wanted to have presented to her. Misty was asking it, and it was clear why.

Misty didn't want to lose her, and if she felt she to ask it, need she had to be sure...

Delia knew the answer the second Misty had finished asking. She couldn't hold it against her. She'd have no reason to. Misty would have perfectly fair reasons if she did what Delia feared. Besides, Misty was the closest thing she had to a daughter, and for better or for worse, she wanted to keep it that way.

For better or for worse, she would accept whatever Misty did. "I wont." She smiled. "I promise."

That didn't mean she'd have to _like_ Misty's choice.

Misty gave Delia a grateful, honest smile. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Delia."

With that, the conversation was over. They didn't need to say it, it was just clear. Misty picked up Azurill in her arms, giving Delia one last smile before she walked away. Delia on the other hand remained, leaning back under the shade of the tree and taking her own turn to gaze to the sky.

She frowned. Ash was on his own from here. She felt a chill of fear creep down her spine. She loved Ash, she really did, but she knew that when it came to matters like love...

It was in an odd way somewhat funny, Ash could raise the strongest Pokémon, and defeat the strongest trainers in the entire world and come out with a grin. He could do the one thing countless aspired to do, but could not, but when it came to something like love, which countless could do...she sighed.

Misty was at a breaking point, Delia knew that. She wasn't all the way there yet, but she was starting to just _give up_ on Ash. Delia couldn't blame her, she'd waited years, _years_ of her life for Ash to notice her, and in the end he'd-

Delia shook her head, she didn't need reminding of _that_. Misty was right, Ash wasn't facing her, which didn't even begin to help matters. Still, Delia took solace in the fact that Ash's dream was just that, a very bad dream, but what was coming was perhaps just as bad.

If Ash didn't realize how he felt, and if he didn't move quickly enough...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_How are you so weak!?"_

Since Ash was evading 'problem number 1' in his life, 'number 2' had decided to pounce on him, and like Scrafty in a rage (or Misty's mallet, but the idea was to _not_ be thinking of her right now, and even _thinking_ of that mallet was painful), it was bashing his head in.

Yesterday's battle had been...well Ash didn't have a word for it. There was so much that seemed wrong with it. So much had been missing from it. Harrison was strong, yes, and he probably would pose a serious challenge to the Elite Four of Kanto, but to someone like him...

Finding a good battle used to be so easy, but even at the championship, very few had been able to truly push him beyond what he'd call 'sparring'. Ash could count on his fingers the number of people who posed a real challenge, and on a single hand those who could force him and his team to go fight with everything they had. He knew becoming Grandmaster meant being **the** strongest, unmatched in the entire world, but seeing how far he was above so many, even ones who once upon a time had been able to outmatch him, even those who'd once done so with ease...

He sighed. _"When did this happen? When did what I'm best at become so..."_ He didn't have a word for it. Battling used to be so simple. Just go out, find some random trainer and go from there. Win, loss, no matter, most tended to be good battles, most of them fun too.

He suddenly stopped. _"Fun...when was the last time I had fun in a battle?"_ He continued walking again, passing a small pond. He turned his head to catch his reflection. He thought back to that dream again. His younger self, though he lacked the ability that he did now, had something more about him. Even as he was getting beaten (brutally at that), he was enjoying the battle.

He was having fun.

A good battle was still a thrill, still something he'd do every single day if he could, but _fun_ didn't quite seem to fit it any more. It was something else now, about something else. Every battle, was about something else, and if he didn't find it. _"I don't battle like...him, anymore."_ He couldn't see that little boy and himself as the same person, now. He wasn't sure why. His eyes turned to his best friend, who was glancing ahead of them. _"Wonder if you do?"_ He took note of that expression Pikachu looked at the world with, realizing, _"You didn't change, much. So why did I?"_

He continued walking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pikachu had been paying close attention to Ash since they'd left. He'd turned away when he knew Ash was taking a glance at him, but he'd continued paying attention.

It was only really now, now they were back home, now their goals were over with that he could take the time to pay look at Ash closely. On the road a lot of days required a lot of the same thing, training, and since that was all Pikachu really saw, and since training was his focus he never took in how much else changed. Yes, Ash avoided people as best he could, but it was worse than that. It was only when they got home did he really notice it.

Ash wasn't quite Ash anymore. He'd lost something. Pikachu saw it, and though she tried to pretend not to notice, Delia noticed it too. Ash used to have something, something unique, something that as in him that was just so good, something that marked him as 'Ash'. Pikachu was sure it was that which used to so easily draw people and Pokémon alike to him. It was a light, a spark in his eyes. Pikachu would admit, with a degree of shame that he'd failed to truly notice it until they got home, but now he finally did.

That light. That spark...

When had it gone out?

A sudden 'boom' snapped Pikachu from his thoughts, and caught Ash's attention, and they both turned to look at a small crowd, near which a small pillar of dust was rising up. "Looks like someone's battling." Pikachu nodded, and Ash walked off in the direction of the battle. He carefully moved around the crowd of people that were watching, making sure to draw no attention to himself, which wasn't too hard, people were watching the show too intently. Ash moved to the front of the crowd with minimum effort, and both he and Pikachu took a close look at what the big deal was.

They found a pair of children, one was currently kneeling by his defeated Pokémon, a Hitmonchan. The other was standing, pointing a Pokémon at his own Pokémon. "Conkeldurr, return!" The large, red-nosed Pokémon was absorbed by a flash of red light, quickly taking back into his Pokémon. His eyes turned to his defeated opponent. "Just what'd I'd expect from someone from a dump like Kanto. You can't even win your own conferences!"

"HEY!" All eyes turned to the cloaked figure that walked out from the crowd. "You're on Kanto soil, brat, I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

The boy smirked. "Or what? You'll challenge me? Please, someone from **Hoenn** won your own conference, and If he hadn't beaten me I'd have won it all!"

Ash took a look at the kid for a moment, quickly deciding one thing: He didn't like him. "What's your name, brat?"

The boy grinned, his air betraying a heavy feeling of self-importance. "Trip."

Ash didn't respond right away, instead he was thinking. Trip. Trip...he knew that name from somewhere. Didn't someone mention it in passing? Something about a Junior World Champion-"Didn't Alder beat you?"

That struck a nerve, Trip's smug face suddenly flashed with anger. "What's it to you? Like you're so special!"

Under the cloak Ash grinned. "Actually I am. I'm very special, actually. For starters, I, unlike you, have actually **beaten** Alder."

Trip smirked. "Like anyone from Kanto has the skill to even **contend** with Alder! If that Ash guy hadn't taken him out at the Championship he would have become Grandmaster."

Now it was Ash's turn to smirk. "Didn't you know?" He grabbed the sides of his hood." Ash Ketchum is **from** Kanto!" Ash pulled off his hood, not caring in the slightest as the world around him was seized in a sudden gasp. Even Trip had been stunned by Ash's big reveal. Ash walked across the battlefield, taking the place of the trainer who'd just lost, who moved out of the way, awe in his eyes as Ash silently spoke to _him_, requesting his spot. Ash turned back to face Trip.

"Just for your attitude, I'm gonna kick your ass. Bring out your best, and I'll pulverize it. No-one, **no-one** insults my homeland in front of me and gets away with it. Especially not a little brat like you!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty strolled through the town, free to do whatever she wanted now. The official League business was thankfully finally over, and she had one more night at the hotel on the League's dollar so she figured why not make the most of it?

Despite the reasons for their talk, Misty had left the conversation in a good mood. Over the years she had to grown close to Delia, and no matter the outcome, she just wanted to be sure she wouldn't lose Delia. She needed to be absolutely sure. After yesterday...

She shook her head. She'd worry about all this when she got back home, when she had nothing but time to think. For now she just wanted one free day to herself. Maybe some shopping, fancy meal (her sister's couldn't cook if their lives depended on it, and she wasn't that great, admittedly), treat herself for once. She passed near a growing crowd but she didn't pay attention. Now she'd finally be able to have an Ash-thought-free day.

"No-one, **no-one** insults my homeland in front of me and gets away with it. Especially not a little brat like you!"

Arceus dammit!

Misty suddenly stopped, cursing her luck again, but what he'd said had caught her attention. She manoeuvred her way through the nearby crowd. She found Ash staring down-she could have sworn she knew that kid from somewhere. She thought for a second, _"One of the top 8."_ She overheard something about Harrison beating some talented-but-rude upstart from Unova, she guessed this was the kid.

Hearing about the kid insulting Kanto annoyed her to hell, how dare that little shit come into her homeland and insult it! Someone needed to beat this kid's ego down a couple dozen (or hundred) pegs.

Oh wait, Ash was gonna do it.

She almost felt conflicted in her sudden rush of feeling. Ash, currently was the most emotional complexed subject in her life. She was still mad at him for what he did to his Mom, still hurt over what he'd done to her, and now she was supposed to be avoiding the topic of Ash, for a while anyway, for her own best interests.

But just for now; screw all that.

"_Kick his ass, Ash!"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Trip reached for his chosen Pokémon quick as a flash, throwing with the cry of, "Serperior!"

The Pokémon emerged, as was traditional, in a flash of white light. Ash looked the at the appearance of it with minor interest, but mostly he was curious about his eyes.

This creature was full of excessive pride, now that was going to have to changed. Ash glanced at his oldest friend. "All yours if you want him, Pikachu." Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder. A chance to beat a smug Pokémon? He'd take it any time! Pikachu walked a distance from Ash, both Pokémon taking starting positions for the battle to come. Ash smiled again before speaking.

"Alright, brat. Here's how it goes. We fight until someone falls. It'll be a one on one battle. You can take the first move."

A breeze picked this moment to sweep over the battlefield, adding tension to what was already a tense enough situation. Ash stood there, his face passive as his cloak danced in the wind, Pikachu smiling. Serperior looked down at his opponent, both literally and figuratively. Trip on the other hand was apparently thinking, considering what to make for an opening move.

Beneath his exterior Ash smiled. It was good to know the arrogant little brat wasn't so blinded by ego that he'd rush into this battle against _him_ head-first. _"But I wish he'd do something. Hmm. I got an idea."_ He got his partner's attention. "Hey Pikachu, how about we give him a little help?" Curious, Pikachu turned, and nodded. Ash turned to Trip. "Hey, brat. You get one free attack."

"What?"

"You heard me. One free attack. Pikachu wont move, won't block, wont defend himself. So come on, take your best shot." Ash glanced at Pikachu, who nodded. He'd agreed to the idea. "Use any attack you want, try to get a head start. Or better yet, try to end this in with the first strike, because unless either Pikachu or I suddenly drop dead that's about the only real chance you got." He grinned. "Pikachu, arms out, make it easy for him!" With an annoyed sigh Pikachu parted his arms, he was pushing this a bit. A few seconds passed and still Trip did nothing. "You gonna do anything or should I paint a target on Pikachu for you?" Now that did it. If Ash tried painting on him he was ending this battle, or just shocking Ash.

He'd have to ask for a coin. Actually, Misty was around, somewhere. Maybe she'd lend him her mallet. Or better yet use it on him herself, it'd be an improvement over the current state of things.

"_Wait."_

He sniffed the air. He'd know that smell anywhere. _"No way Ash knows."_ He'd have reacted already if he did. How, he couldn't be sure. Would it be a good idea to tell him? Pikachu decided against it. He did wonder why she was here though.

He swore he was going to get the details of what happened yesterday out of Ash, one way or another.

While Pikachu's mind was elsewhere, his opponent's Trainer was quite focused on the current battle, or to put it another way; what exactly he should do.

Trip looked closely at Pikachu. This had to be a trick, surely. Who'd be nuts enough to let their Pokémon take an attack unguarded? Didn't the Grandmaster know just what kind of attacks there were in the world of Pokémon? Didn't he care what could happen to his Pikachu? There's no way that little thing could take a full powered direct attack and keep going. No, this **had** to be a trick.

On the other hand..."Frenzy Plant!"

Serperior glowed green for a moment, before ramming his tail into the ground. For a second there was silence, until suddenly huge, spiked roots sprout from the ground, all right where Pikachu was standing.

The roots beat Pikachu from every angle, picking him up as well as slashing at him. He was silent, even as the roots beat at him, even as they eventually stopped rising, and turned around Pikachu, wrapping his body completely. In a moment Pikachu could not be seen, lost inside a sphere of roots.

"Ha! Your Pikachu's trapped now! There's no way he can get out of-"

-crack-

"Wha-"

There was another crack, before the root sphere was parted like shreds of paper, Pikachu jumping down and landing on the ground with a smile.

Completely unscathed.

"And you're the junior **world** champion?" Ash laughed. "Alright, you've had your shot. Now Pikachu, let's show him some **real** power!" Pikachu and Ash both took the same pose, their right hand/paw raised in front of their chest, clenched in a fist. "And let's make it interesting. No special attacks, just brawl." Pikachu nodded. "And drag it out as long as you want!"

Pikachu grinned, running on two legs to his target. He'd already taken his opponents strongest attack (he guessed it was anyway) and that'd been nothing. This was a time to really kick back and beat some arrogant asshole slowly; the thing was STILL looking down his nose at him! Pikachu was going to enjoy this...way more than he probably should.

"Cut!"

In just over a second Serperior had raised a glowing tail tip, and had taken aim at Pikachu.

Pikachu raised his right paw, grasping onto the tail quick as a flash.

It stopped moving. Serperior's jaw clenched, before gritting his teeth, trying in vain to shift the little mouse Pokémon that had _dared_ to grab his tail!

No effect. Pikachu merely held the tail with a smile. "Pika kachupi chu pi ka." _I'm stronger than I look._ "Chu!" _Watch!_

Still with a single paw, he raised the tail over his head, picking up Serperior on the process, before slamming him forward into the ground. He raised his again, slamming his victim again, one more raise, one more slam, before he let go, dusting off his paws. "Pi kachu pi pi ka?" _You gonna get back up?_

Seperior raised his face out of the ground, growling. How dare this little common _rat_ mock a Regal Pokémon like himself?

"Serperior, back away and try Solarbeam!"

Serperior jumped away, before opening his mouth to release a very familiar attack. The white beam's aim was true, and Pikachu was going to take it head-on unless he moved.

Pikachu held out his right paw, the beam colliding with it. He dug his feet in, neither he nor the beam moving. He kept this pose for just a couple of seconds before he suddenly threw his arm to the sky, the beam following the path he had set. It went high into the sky, up into the clouds. Before simply dissipating to nothingness.

Serperior backed away slightly, and so did Trip.

Now they were a little scared. Only a little. Really, only a little.

Both shuddered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty watched, but she wasn't watching the battle, she found herself watching Ash this time.

Only years of watching him battle, combined with the borderline obsession that the purest of love brings could make her see what she did; Ash had changed in how he battled, and not only technique and skill. It was his posture, his composure, his body language. Again, only her feelings for him could make him notice these things, most likely wouldn't.

When Pikachu would attack, his features would seem to, well 'flare' might be the way to put it. His entire body awakened, and remained as such until the attack was complete. When Pikachu evaded an attack, his body would shift just slightly. When Frenzy Plant had hit his body had tensed, and during the entire Solarbeam moment his body had only gotten tenser until Pikachu had deflected it. Every little action Pikachu performed and was subjected to enticed a reaction.

It was strange, if she didn't know any better, she'd guessed Ash could _feel_ what Pikachu did.

She wasn't too far from the truth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash's body relaxed as the Solarbeam was deflected into the sky. Power struggles, his favourite parts of battle. Over the years he'd gained such an aptitude, such a feel for battle, so much in fact that it felt at times it almost felt like he was actually fighting in them himself. Alder himself had pointed out how Ash almost seemed to feel what his Pokémon did, but he wasn't quite right, it was more he could _sense_ it, and understand it perfectly, so much so that his body reacted to it.

He simply called it his battling instinct, and it was his one of his greatest assets, because with it he felt more alive, got more inventive, and became a far more fierce trainer during a really intense battle. You harder you hit Ash's Pokémon, the harder he could, and would make them hit back. He absolutely loved it when he felt a real battle. The way his heart seemed to beat like a drum of war, the sheer strain in the air, and the way it'd crash on him, force him to react or be crushed by it. The elation, the force, the sheer thrill of it. He'd yet to find anything quite as enthralling as a true battle.

This was not one of those battles.

The way Serperior's attacks couldn't inflict damage. The way he crumbled under even the weakest of attacks. The sheer...unrefined nature of his technique. The way even his strongest attacks were so easy to bat away. A real opponent wouldn't crumble so easily. A real opponent would have a refined technique. A real opponent wouldn't have made it so easy to block their attacks.

A real opponent would have inflicted damage. Which would have forced Ash to give the order to inflict damage in turn, and they in turn, and them him, and so on and so forth, until one would finally fall.

_Glorious._

He found missing the Grandmaster Championship, briefly. _"Even weaken than Harrison's Blaziken!" _"Come on! I've had better fights out of kids who were still sucking pacifiers!"

He technically wasn't lying about that. Way back when, back when Scrafty was a newly-hatched Scraggy, Ash had pit him against other young Pokémon on occasion, and they often wielded by very young trainers. Some perhaps a little too old to be sucking pacifiers but hey, what did Ash care?

Such battles were not particularly pleasant memories, infant Pokémon battles were so...dull. He was grateful that his one Unova-native Pokémon had grown in strength so quickly. His attitude could use some tweaking, but what could you really expect from a hoodlum? He wondered if any of the children who'd beaten Scrafty as a child could believe that same Scraggy was the one who'd turned a very unlucky Heatran into a punching bag at the championship. That Heatran, and many other unlucky Pokémon.

Speaking of unlucky Pokémon, Serperior had yet again tried another direct attack, and Pikachu simply batted it away. "It's easy to see why Harrison kicked your ass, brat." Ash suddenly blinked. Blaizen, Serperior...he'd seen that battle! He'd only flipped to it randomly, seeing only a close-up shot of the final blow: Serperior forced to the ground, quite immobile as Blaziken held a limb firmly to his face.

Never before had Ash seen a more creative and cruel use for a Blaze Kick. Ash had raised an eyebrow at that, morbidly impressed by the method. He'd flipped to another channel before seeing just who gave that torturous command.

He'd never have thought Harrison had it in him.

Himself on the other hand...

While Ash's mind was free to wander, Trip's was focused only on the problem at hand. It became obvious to him that he was going to have to try something else. "_He's way too strong to fight directly...maybe I can trick him."_

"Leaf Tornado, Serperior! Spread it over the battlefield like a veil!"

Serperior jumped into the air, and with his tail aimed to the sky he began turning, quickly becoming a green blur as more green emerged from his form. Both Ash and Pikachu were silent and still as the green turned into a tornado of leaves, which grew bigger and bigger, parting from its creator and growing in size. Pikachu was covered and lost inside it as it spread over him. The entire battlefield was now almost covered entirely by the spiralling leaves, obscuring all within. Ash and Trip had only a couple of feet in front of them with clear ground. The rest of the arena was drowned in the green wind. Serperior landed right in front of Trip, waiting for an order.

"Now hide yourself in it!"

Serperior dived forward, into the storm of leaves, and was quickly lost.

Pikachu, in the heart of the whirlwind, looked around. All over there was little more than spiralling leaves, giving the world the appearance of being green. The perfect hiding place, seeing Serperior in this would be a tall order.

So Pikachu wouldn't _look_. His ears twitched. The air was alive with the sounds of wind, but even with the sharp sound of the wind...he smiled.

"Dragon Tail!"

Pikachu rotated on the spot, slamming his (un-enhanced) tail into Serperior's glowing tail, knocking its owner right off the ground and into the air. Serperior flew into the air, and all could see it as the tornado dissipated. What goes up will come down, and Serperior did so with a slam. Yet another failed attempt.

Trip was starting to lose it now. _"He's not even giving his Pikachu commands! He's just standing there!" _'Just standing there' wasn't quite right. Ash's eyes bore right into his, like a statue, it was almost like he looked right through Trip. _"He's...almost scary."_

His pride insisted on the 'almost'.

Serperior managed to force himself to shift with a grunt, the markings of battle all over its body. This fight was almost over, and would be if Ash would just give the say-so, but Pikachu had a feeling Ash wasn't going to give him any more orders from here on out. He decided he'd knock his opponent's ego into the ground. Pikachu and Ash despised those who looked down on others, and they were two individuals who perhaps had the right to. He was going to drag this out, until his opponent learned to have some humility, plus it was a chance to play around in a battle, Ash never really did anything like that anymore. Never let a battle drag out, he just wanted to finish it as soon as possible, and if their opponent could force him to drag it out, all the better in Ash's view. For now, however, Pikachu could just relax and mess around. So what could he do next...

That question would never be answered.

"_I can't take this anymore." _That was no lie. His body had already decided it was done with this. His hands were twitching, his body restless, his breathing starting to become heavier. Not directly getting involved in the battle had dulled it at first, but quickly it's rising up, and here he was. _"Dammit, not this again!"_

"Pikachu! Get over here!" Two brief flashes later and Pikachu was right in front of Ash, who'd taken to a knee to converse in secret. "This isn't going anywhere, let's have a little fun."

"Pipi Kapi Pikachu?" _Iron Tail Volleyball?_

"No." Ash grinned. "Remember the last wake-up call you gave me?"

Pikachu grinned, nodding, and getting what Ash was hinting at.

Ash nodded, standing up again. "Have fun."

Pikachu nodded, and casually started to stroll the distance between himself and his opponent. The tired Serperior was finally up, it was a shame he had to end this now, but at least he'd knock his opponent's ego down a few pegs.

Trip was starting to sweat _"Direct attacks don't work. He can't be hidden from. What else can I try? If I try and grab him with vine whip he'll just shock Serperior. Maybe I could try-"_

Whatever Trip had in mind would never come to fruition, because Pikachu had already swept in to finish the battle. He vanished in a flash, and Serperior suddenly found himself raised from the ground by his mid-section, being held up by Pikachu's legs. What was he up to?

Pikachu raised his tail. "CHUUUUUU!"

Serperior's eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body was subjected to the cruel shocking. When it was finally over the Regal Pokémon was reduced to something quite common, and collapsed to the ground in a heap. Conscious, but dazed beyond words.

There are certain places shocks are just not meant to be applied.

Ash laughed to himself. Okay, he understood Serperior's pain (both the immediate and that which would come later), but this was still funny to him. He despised those who looked down on others, and knocking them down was always satisfying. His only regret is not setting Pikachu on Trip as well. No matter, he'd shut the brat up. He repressed a snigger when he wondered; How would Serperior react when he next tried to relieve himself? For Ash, it really was one of those days he was glad he was travelling alone. He should have come up with a better revenge than cold water. Maybe if they ended up away from home again for a while...

The Klinks were turning...ketchup (had to involve ketchup, right now was the perfect time, unless Pikachu had already hit the 100 bottle mark. Ash wouldn't be surprised)...something to mix into it...something which will cause utter chaos for Pikachu for a while...

He blinked, now he thought about it, it was this idea that got him that particular shock in the first place. In retrospect, maybe the wake-up call Ash gave before that shock was too harsh as well. He'd lightly poked Pikachu awake, and offered him a bottle of "Ketchup". Not having had the substance in weeks, Pikachu had accepted it happily and downed it almost instantly.

Pikachu learned "Flamethrower"! It's super effective!

...at angering wild Pokémon. A cave of sleeping Gigalith had not taken kindly to the sudden disturbance. They'd stopped making a fuss after Ash had set Snorlax onto them. They'd stopped doing pretty much anything that involved being conscious after that as well. To think, Snorlax didn't even wake up for the occasion. He'd woken up to Ash saying "good job" and didn't even know why. A pile of Pokeblocks quickly silenced all thought on the matter. He could have sworn that something sharp was poking him in the butt though, but the food erased that from thought too. He never noticed when the feeling suddenly disappeared, and the sound of something rushing away.

He _was_ still eating, after all.

Ash would feel guilty for the "Ketchup" trick, but then he remembered what Pikachu did before that, then suddenly guilty at what he did before that, then he'd recall what Pikachu did, then what he did..._"Things really __got out of hand there. Actually, who even started it in the first place?"_

He'd wonder about that another time, but maybe a peace offering was in order.

Ash watched as his opponent returned his defeated Pokémon to his Pokémon, utterly silent as he did so. Such a humiliating and crushing defeat, Ash hadn't handed out anything quite like this before, it was a new experience for him. Not something he'd make a habit of, he decided. Only to those who were really asking for it.

Ash made his way over to his defeated foe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty walked away just after the battle was over, not bothering to wait to see what Ash was going to say or do.

That she'd never seen before. Ash being so...rude in battle. He'd mocked, and then proceeded to pretty much make a laughing stock out of him, and that last attack was just cruel! _Her_ Ash would never have done that. How much had he changed, really? He'd had two years in Unova alone, and she didn't know just how much of him had been altered by it.

How much of her Ash was still in the Ash that was there now.

"_Still...that brat was asking for it."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And that, brat, is what happens when you shoot your mouth off at your betters. Keep in mind, just because you win one little tournament doesn't make you top of the food chain. There will always, always be someone stronger." He gave a small smile, looking upwards. "Well, unless you're me." He turned around. "Come find me when you can back up that ego of yours, and don't let me catch you bad-mouthing my homeland again."

While Ash had been talking, Pikachu had been watching, carefully. He'd found Misty, and watched as she strolled off, every step until he couldn't see her anymore. He guessed she was avoiding Ash now. _"Why do humans have to make things so complicated?"_

He'd like to run into Arecus again one day. Just to ask a little question regarding the creation of humans.

"_What were you thinking!?__"_

Ash looked around, people were gathering, and he noticed something making their way towards him with a small notepad. He knew what was to happen if he stayed. Crowds would reach for him, demand his attention and autographs, oh Arceus how they'd demand he'd sign _pieces of paper,_ and the approaching Journalist would hound him for countless petty details. He hadn't tolerated either at the end of the championship more than he'd needed to (the most personal detail he'd given in an interview was what he was planning to do next: "I don't know").

He wanted no part of it now. "Time to go, Pikachu."

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's arm, and sat himself upon his shoulder. He took a look at one of the very few remaining openings in the forming circle that was the crowd.

His cheeks glowed.

They were gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ow." Ash shook his head lightly, taking a look behind him, the crowds were still there but a long ways away.

"Ka chu pika?" Are you okay?

Ash nodded. "I'm fine."

"Pi kaka chu ka. Pika chu pi, Kaka Pi pika chu pi ka." _But you still got hurt. I told you, Flash Step isn't meant for you._

"I know, I know, but it was just a quick shock, no problem. Besides, would you rather be in the middle of **that**?"

Pikachu took one look at the crowd. "Ka chu." _Good point._

Ash fixed his hood, and with Pikachu on his shoulder once more he was off. To where, who knew? How long, who cared? He just wanted to wander, because no matter how much had changed, this remained the same. Ash could always enjoy the simple feeling of wandering around, even alone. He'd have to make his way back eventually, but 'eventually' left him a considerable amount of time to occupy himself.

He had his thoughts to occupy him. Once again the battle had been like a poison sting in his backside. He'd amused himself with mockery, and deliberately taking an attack but quickly the wall of peace that he'd built crumbled to nothing. Battling...was hard. His mind flashed the image of his younger self again, grinning even against absolutely impossible odds.

He hadn't grinned like that in a battle, hadn't enjoyed a battle like that since..._"I don't remember."_

Harrison's battle, along with Trip's had failed to be truly fun. There was a moment of it in today's match, but not _that_ kind of fun. He hadn't had _that_ kind of fun in forever. He sighed.

This would require more thought. This, and this alone.

He'd dare not travel down the _other_ line of thought available to him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of Chapter

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Author's Notes:

Hey, I've reached fifty thousand words! I consider that a minor accomplishment worth mentioning.

Not as much angst as normal, sorry. Don't worry, I'll make up for it later.

Yet another phase in the plot line I'm working up to. I bet I can quote most of your thoughts perfectly: "Will he just get on with it already!?".

Patience, people. This is going somewhere good. How much patience, well I only have so many ideas in my arsenal currently, and a not-unlimited amount of time to write, not a great combo, trust me.

Trip's appearance:

I hate the little bastard. Couldn't pass up an opportunity to have Ash kick his ass. Obviously in this story's version of Ash's journey around Unova they never even met.


	7. Measuring Tolls

Authors Notes: Another long delay. My Apologies, folks, this one proved troublesome. Upcoming chapters are better planned, so they should be faster to write and upload.

"Should", I need to emphasize that word.

Speaking of chapters: Finally my chapters have titles! Not amazing ones but they do the job. Titles may change in future if I come up with better ones, so don't be surprised if you notice a chapter name suddenly change.

By the way: I've added a little subsection to the top Author's notes of the first chapter, explaining the meaning of changes in the text of the book (what represents thought, what represents translated Pokéspeak, and so on). Most likely it's obvious by now, but if you have any confusions just head to chapter one and take a look see. I don't think my way of differentiating thought/speech for example is typical (in fact I'm pretty sure it's not), so if you want the basic guide to understand the crap I write, it's there.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The remnants of morning passed into afternoon, and now the sun sat high in the sky, casting its light down on the countless people below. The buzz of the conference was still in full swing, and trainers from all over the world found themselves the interest of the locals, all eager to catch closer gazes of Pokémon from regions far beyond Kanto.

It would be a over a week before things finally returned to normal.

Alone, Ash walked through the streets passing by many a people and place, drawing no attention to himself (well, as little as a cloaked guy with a Pikachu on his shoulder could manage). His thoughts were ill-refined, wandering further than Ash himself at this point. His thoughts were shattered by Pikachu taking notice of something. He stopped, and in the window he was now next two a few televisions were all showing the same thing. Ash turned, taking a look at the battle showing on every screen in the window. He almost smiled, he recalled this battle fondly.

His final battle, and the final round at the Championship.

He against Cynthia. Pikachu against Garchomp. The final round was about to begin. In fact, it already had, but both sides stood silent, waiting, daring, silently urging the other. Urging the other to make the first move. Though no move had been commanded, the battle was in full swing. Will was the weapon now. Ash's burning eyes stared down Cynthias' currently frozen ones. Only their eyes spoke of anything, as their faces were void of anything that could be called an expression.

Ash suddenly smiled.

Entire minutes passed by, the heavy silence spreading over even the crowds. A breeze passed through, waving their hair slightly in its wake but neither did a thing for a moment.

Ash's smile grew just slightly. That was all he did, he didn't move, or speak, or do anything else.

...

Cynthia's hand twitched. "Draco Meteor!"

Ash chuckled. He'd won that round.

Garchomp briefly glowed orange, before the light condensed in her chest as she opened her jaw, releasing a single, gigantic orb of energy right up into the sky, high into the clouds themselves. Ash looked up, Pikachu with him, waiting for-

The sky was alight with a thousand spheres of light, orbs of burning rain. The burning rain came down. The arena was dyed in an orange hue as the fire came down, aiming at Pikachu, and everywhere else he could go.

"Flash Step!"

Pikachu vanished in a brief flash of yellow in the instant before a fireball landed where he'd occupied. He appeared elsewhere, only to vanish again when another fireball closed in on his position. Another appearance. Another disappearance. So on and so on Pikachu appeared and disappeared, the smoke of each impact making it even harder for the little mouse to be tracked. Garchomp and Cynthias' eyes darted everywhere, but finding Pikachu now was like finding a needle in a haystack, a stack that was currently smoking, and a needle that could move itself at will. Eventually the inferno rain came to a halt, and the arena was covered in a layer of smoke.

Pikachu was somewhere. Where exactly, only he knew. Only he needed to know. Ash on the other hand only needed to know Pikachu could hear him.

"Slam her down with Iron Tail!"

He reappeared, in a flash just above Garchomp's face before -WHAM!- the Iron Tail found its mark, and both Pikachu and Garchomp slammed into the ground, the latter held down by the metal tail of the former. Ash turned his attention to Cynthia."You can do better than that! Don't underestimate me, Cynthia!"

"I haven't! Garchomp, throw him off!"

Garhomp growled, and with great force leapt to her feet, Pikachu flipping off the dragon before putting distance between himself and her. Ash raised an eyebrow, Garchomp had been slammed in the face by an Iron Tail and scarcely fazed by it. He grinned. "This is gonna be a long round." He grinned. "Let's go, Pikachu! Let's show them who's the strongest!"

In the live world, Ash turned away, and continued walking. His thoughts finally found focus in reflection.

For as long as he could remember, all he'd really had a passion for was Pokémon. It'd been his dream at least since he was capable of memory. His dreams had started small; Trainer, then came "great Trainer", then Gym Leader. Then he heard of the title "Pokémon Master" and the idea stuck. One day it evolved to "the greatest Pokémon Master".

So much time had passed since then.

"_So now what?"_ He couldn't improve on the dream. He hadn't missed anything outlined in his goal, and nothing better was about to pop out and entice him. He had nothing else to reach for. He'd given it thought on his way home, but never would he have expected the feeling to be this...heavy. There was no one else left, no one to fight. Nothing left to do. No way forward or up. He'd reached the highest point. He stood alone at the peak of a trainer's existence, like a man atop a lonely mountain. Separate, isolated, waiting for someone to strong enough to come before him, so that then they might finally fight, but how long would that be? Months? Years? Decades even? How long before someone strong enough came to challenge him? To push him to his absolute limit? Ash was only going to get stronger. It wasn't an option, it was in his blood, his very essence. It was just who he was. He couldn't **not** make himself and team stronger, faster, better. He was only to make the peak he stood upon higher, harsher and harder to reach. As the days went by he was going to be separated from the rest of the world by a distance that would grow further and further still.

Would anyone ever reach him?

"_Maybe I should have just gone into hiding or something..."_ He shifted the hood of his cloak. _"What would be the difference, really? And that way I'd have kept my crap to myself."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia sat alone in a coffee shop, the sunlight from the outside world shining down on her through the window she sat next to. Currently her attention was captured by large television indented into the wall, along with the attention of almost everyone else.

Both Pikachu and Garchomp suddenly stepped back, a lashing wind from a previous clash proving to be something they did not seek to approach. It quickly subsided, leaving the battle to continue.

Cynthia was first to give another command. "Brick Break! Aim it at the ground!" The fin of Garchomps' right wing glowed white. She struck the ground before her. The fin snaked right across and into the ground, launching many large chunks of it at Pikachu and the area around him.

Ash could have ordered Pikachu to evade, but he had a 'better' (opinions differed) idea. "Charge Beam!" Pikachu opened his mouth, forming a crackling ball of electricity just in front of his mouth before a stream of light burst forth from it. The beam obliterated everything it touched, the force knocking nearby shards off their trajectory and away from and path that lead to Pikachu. The beam had only one target in mind, and it was moving too fast to avoid.

"Block it!" Garchomp crossed her wings like a shield, and she was knocked off her feet as the beam exploded against her wings, slamming into the ground. She quickly forced herself back to her feet. Cynthia wasted no time before. "Sandstorm!" Garchomp spread her wings, and her entire body suddenly started to emit a distinct visible vapour, one that suddenly exploded in mass when her wings suddenly beat.

Both Ash and Pikachu were briefly frozen by the sight before them, a huge wave of sand was set to cover everything in its path, and the wave was about to envelop Pikachu.

He vanished, leaving it to crash harmlessly into the ground. Appearing closer to Ash, but the storm was still advancing, dyeing the arena a beach-like sandy brown. Ash's eyes tried to find Garchomp, but she proved harder to find in this storm of sand. "Dig!" Garchomp dived into the ground with little more effort than diving into water. In seconds she was gone. Lost underground as the storm continued.

Ash and Pikachu's eyes darted across the storm as best they could. Despite their efforts, they could find not a trace, or hint of Garchomp's location. Ash's feet swept across the ground, and Pikachu did the same. This was their doomed effort to feel for vibrations, none, and any second Garchomp would probably rise for an attack, if the storm didn't suffocate Pikachu first..."Pikachu, to the sky!" Pikachu briefly vanished, appearing very high above both the arena and the sandstorm. "Charge Veil!"

Pikachu's cheeks glowed, and then his body as his power flared. In a second his entire body could no longer be seen through the sheer amount of power. "CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The burst of electricity eventually slowed, letting Pikachu be seen once more, and when it finally ceased the effects remained, Pikachu was now covered in a yellow aura-like veil.

He started falling.

"Slam your tail into the ground and use Discharge! Aim everywhere!" Pikachu arced his body so his head was aiming at the ground, and he sailed down quickly. Before he hit the ground he flipped so his tail was aiming right for the ground.

Pikachu landed on his tail, indenting it into the ground. Like a shockwave the burst of electricity spread out, scarcely impeded by the storm, which could only be slowed before the might of the wave. The shockwave moved quickly, reaching across the huge arena, the electricity beneath the surface slicing upwards from the underground like the ground was little more than a leaf before the thousands of blades of electricity that cut through it.

It wasn't quick enough. "Garchomp, emerge!" The Dragon burst from the ground, rising far beyond the scope of the discharge, which now was everywhere Garchomp could have landed. Only Ash and Cynthia had any ground to stand safely upon. "Giga Impact!"

Garchomp growled, and almost instantly formed the barrier of orange and purple energy which was its trademark and most powerful physical move.

Ash grinned. "Volt Tackle!" Pikachu ripped himself from the ground, taking to all fours and suddenly charging forward. "Pika, pika, pika, pikAAAAAAAA!" He was shrouded in power, the veil he was already wrapped in glowing stronger and stronger with every step. Garchomp glided across the ground, both looked eye-to-eye.

Even if they order was given, they would not stop.

"GARRRRRRRR!"

"KAAAAAAAAA!"

The two superpowers collided, head-to-head, with enough force to shatter the ground under them, and they did. The ground completely gave way, and several feet of already-cracked ground below them was now nothing more than a dent in the battleground. Both remained in mid-air, neither backing down. From the colliding energies a wind blew, and the weakened sandstorm was quickly nullified. Countless particles of sand scattered over the arena, most of it being blown to the edges of the battlefield. There was a sudden spike in the force of the wind. The forces created a blinding light, which only grew brighter and bright before-

It exploded. Both Pikachu and Garchomp were forcibly thrown away from the center of the blast.

Garchomp slammed the fins of her wings into the ground, two clouds of dust bursting upwards as she still skidded across the ground, but even with that effort still found herself very close to her mistress when she finally came to a halt. She did not yet extract her wings from the ground.

Pikachu was sent sailing through the air, rolling in the air relatively slowly. His face flashed with pain, yellow streaks of electricity briefly coursing over his body before it faded, along with his veil. His eyes flashed open. He touched a front paw to the ground 'above' him, before his body flipped, a leg doing as the paw just did, and then a paw, then a leg. Piakchu flipped across the arena before kicking the ground one last time, landing and sliding across the arena floor, stopping right before his best friend. Pikachu took a few deep, rapid breaths before his breathing calmed. He grinned.

There was only silence, the crowd too stunned to even cheer at that point. All were too amazed by what they had just seen.

In the present-day world however...

"Having Pikachu meet her Garchomp's Giga Impact head-on like that, is he insane?"

Ash picked that precise moment to break into laughter. "You're pretty strong! But I've come too far to lose now, Cynthia!" His hand reached up to clutch his heart. "I'm going to be Grandmaster and you're not stopping me, you're not stopping us!" He released it. "Pikachu! She's weakened for now! Attack with Thunderpunch!"

"KA!"

He vanished, and in the next instant a still Garchomp had a small, glowing fist slammed into her face, knocking her right to the ground before, "Again!" A second strike made Garchomp scream in pain. "Hit until she hits back!" A rapidly flurry of vicious punches continued to knock Garchomp's face from side to side.

Delia turned away, she'd seen enough of that. In all truth, this was one of the matches she didn't like being reminded of. Ash would go on to order Pikachu to deliver strike after strike, all of them fast, hard and painful. The battle was not even half way through at this point, and the worst was yet to come. This match would go down in history as one of the most intense clashes ever recorded in a Pokémon battle. Some would even refuse to call it a battle. Such people called it a war, and the condition the battlefield was left in after the match was over gave them solid grounds to call it so.

Delia hated how much Ash actually enjoyed it. Ash had always enjoyed a good battle, but such battles she didn't understand how _anyone_ could enjoy. It was almost never the case that Pokémon strove to outright kill each other in a match, but in battles of such intensity telling the difference was right next to impossible. There were close to a dozen times that Delia was terrified that Pikachu might actually die, but at the end of it he'd just walked away. She'd never been a Pokémon trainer, never would she be, so she could never even begin to understand. She could never understand how her son and Pikachu could put themselves through that, and _love every second of it_.

She honestly couldn't say if she would even want to know. A lot of things had changed in her son over time, not all of them good. She found herself wondering, wondering something she'd never had before, even throughout all the years, even in the silence, this thought had never taken form in her mind.

"_Should I have stopped him?"_

If she had kept him home, forbade him from leaving on that day, all those years ago, he'd be free from _this_. He wouldn't have to walk the streets in secret. He wouldn't be just an ideal to people now. Maybe, he could go actually make genuine friends, because finding such people now would be a trying task, more than Ash had the will to attempt right now. Maybe he wouldn't have changed so much.

Maybe, if she had stopped him, he'd be happy now. All she would have to had done was lock him in on that day...

"_But what kind of mother would that have made me?"_

She sighed. A well meaning one, but ultimately in her view, a bad one. Ash had wanted to leave, and had she kept him from doing so she could only imagine what his reaction might have been, and no predicted outcome was pleasant. Ash could never have lived the life of a normal child, it just wasn't in him. The only thing she had truly been scared of was the fact he'd be travelling alone, and all the dangers that could bring, but that worry had been quickly addressed, before his first day had even ended, actually. Then a short time later he'd added the final piece to his group of travellers. The years passed, but she never had to worry for very long about Ash being alone, he'd always find someone new to tag along with his adventures.

Until Unova, and everything those two years had brought...

She could have stopped him _then_ too. Yet, as it was before, he'd wanted to go. She'd taken a gambit every time he'd wandered off, Unova was just the one she'd lost.

The one they'd both lost. They, and others.

Now he couldn't live the live of a normal teenager, or adult in the years to come either. She knew he was different from most children long before he walked out that door. She wasn't sure what would be the outcome once he left that day, but this outcome was never what she expected or wanted. She'd wanted Ash to go out and do well, but not for the sake of having done so. He could have been the least talented trainer in history (and in his very earliest days, she later learned, he was a contender for that title), as long as he was happy. For the most part, his journey had turned out well, he'd been happy.

It was only in the final stretch...

The fact was inescapable. He'd accomplished his dream, even if the results were not as he had imagined. As much as it pained them both, every action had consequences. Now Ash was meeting his, and his actions had heavy reactions to meet them. Maybe, it was all inevitable. Her son was just destined for greatness, but its costs...this can't, this just _can't_ have been destined. Even for all of Ash's faults, and mistakes, _this_ was just not fair.

Delia put her nearly finished cup on the table before her, the contents waving for a brief moment as the daylight dance upon them. She turned to the window, looking out towards the sky.

"_Where did it all go wrong?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash sighed.

"_Did I miss something?"_

He was the Grandmaster, there wasn't any more to it than that, but still he could not shrug off a sense of wrongness to it all. _"I'm Grandmaster. I'm the best."_ Nope, didn't help. Something was _wrong_ about it, with it. Something within the fact of that statement was almost like poison. He'd never given a great deal of thought to what life would be like _after_ becoming the best, but he was certain of one thing.

This wasn't it.

So why wasn't this, _it_?

Ash took a moment to sit on a bench, looking out in front of him. The area before him was void of buildings and constructs, apparently left that way just for Pokémon battles, because before him that's what it was being used for. Dozens of battles were taking place in front of his eyes, and Pokémon from every region he'd walked through were before him. He saw a Machamp fighting against a Lucario, a Noctowl against Solrock, and a two-on-battle between a Beedrill and a Swampert against a Ramparados and a Galvantula. Many more battles lined the area before him, but as dust raised from closer battles the more distant ones became harder to see.

So many, so far away...

It was then he wondered, out loud. "Pikachu. Do you think we may have, I don't know...done all this too fast?"

"Pii?" _Hmm?_

"I mean, look at us. We're still so young, and we're...done. Here we are, best in the world. I mean, how long did it take Cynthia and Alder just to become Champions? And now I've gone past them..."

"Ka pi chu chuka pi?" _What are you getting at?_

It was nearly a minute before he answered. "I don't know. It just feels like...well it doesn't feel right. I'm thinking...maybe it all happened too quickly, that's all. Like maybe it was all meant to go on, we were meant to go on longer. I, we were meant to see more, do more, and well..." He shrugged."Here we are." He turned to look at his friend, smiling slightly. "Probably worrying over nothing, ain't I?"

Pikachu blinked. _"Maybe, maybe not." _That was a serious thought. It was different for Pikachu. Before Professor Oak had given him to Ash, all Pikachu really knew was that lab, and before that the forests of Pallet, until Professor Oak came to capture him, the man had seemed oddly determined to catch _him_ over the other Pikachu that were around, and he used to wonder why that was. Most of Pikachu's life had been wandering, he'd never really got the concept of _home_ until he was with Ash, and as long as he was with him that was home enough for Pikachu. Still, being in one place for what may well be forever was very strange. Not a good or bad strange, just strange. Maybe Ash was just too used to being on the road. "Pika ka pi pikachu chupi." _We could go travelling again._

Ash vehemently shook his head. "I couldn't do that to Mom. Even with, well, all the crap I've brought back with me she wouldn't want me to go. I couldn't leave now, not for a long, long while. If I ever do."

He leaned back, gazing at the sky as his mind wandered to something else, another matter. There was something else, about yesterday that was bothering him, not as much as...other things, but it was something that now, sitting here, hidden from the world he couldn't help but think about.

When he'd walked out into the stadium to battle, he'd knew cheers would sound out for him. He'd gotten used to it at the Grandmaster Championship as the rounds went on. With every victory the crowds cheered louder and louder, until they were nearly deafening at the final match, and even stronger when he'd actually won. With all these people cheering for him now, it felt like should be...doing something. He'd seen it growing up, and even in more recent encounters with famous trainers (the regional champions in particular). They interacted with people, offered words, encouraged the children, and more.

"_Am I supposed to?"_

Ash didn't know what he was supposed to do, if he was supposed to do anything, but it felt like he _had_ to. So what was it? He'd only talked to one fan, but only because that boy reminded him of another, a boy who was more sure of himself then, then Ash himself was now. _"Would I have known what to do back then?"_

With an oddly happy smirk, he knew that not even _that_ Ash would have. Oh he'd put on a show, suck up the attention like a sponge (and then do something very, very stupid most likely), but beyond that he'd have had no idea what to do.

What were you supposed to do when you reached the top?

He sighed. Were there only someone he could ask about this. Someone he could get answers from. Who in this world could he possibly go to? Who could understand what it was like? He wondered if either Cynthia or Alder might be of some help, but both of them were rarely easy to find, so that was out. He still doubted they could have helped, even if he knew where to find them. They were _regional_ champions, they were not the _world_ champion, the Grandmaster, like him. His position was so much bigger, his weight so much heavier than their own. He looked out into the distance, far beyond the battles in front of him. In the distance the shape of large hills were carved against the sky, partly disguising that which lay beyond, the world that lay beyond. The world was a big place, and if he ever left to wander it again he could see many things, meet many people, and he'd helped many people out there in his time...

"_If only someone out there could help me." _He rose from the bench, picked another direction and got right back to walking.

Not for the first time that day, Pikachu had been paying attention, he'd found himself wondering something Ash had already, that Delia had too.

As others had, and would. They'd all wonder at one point or another, about what the Ash they once knew had become.

"_When did all this start, Ash?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty had come across something interesting. Before her a small crowd was forming around another battle. (A crowd smaller than the battle she'd witnessed only hours ago). She only chose to watch because of who was battling. The trainer she didn't know. The Gym Leader on the other hand...

Forrest smiled. "Alright, it'll be a one-on-one battle." He reached for his waist, picking the only Pokéball he had on his person. "Ready when you are."

Gym leaders being challenged in the streets was sadly not that uncommon an occurrence. When Gym Leaders are at a regional conference, it was **never** the case that at least one Gym Leader wasn't challenged. Lt. Surge had mentioned in passing that he'd been challenged three times the previous day. His Raichu made short work of its opponents. Misty found it a little strange that it was the most intimidating Gym Leaders that were being challenged most, rather than the weaker looking ones.

Clearly someone decided to try and be smart, going for the 'newest' Gym Leader. This wasn't going to end well. Forrest's opponent was only a child, less than ten most likely (or just really short. If the former than he technically wasn't a trainer.), and Misty (as well as Forrest) suspected the Nirdoino besides him was likely a pet before he'd evolved.

As previously stated; this would not end well.

"Go, Rhyperior!"

Forrest's first Pokémon appeared with a roar of the first syllable of its name, its immense physique making the area allocated for the battle seem a lot smaller.

The trainer actually backed away, along with Nidorino. A smart person would consider backing out now.

Most children were not smart.

"Horn attack!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash detected it before he'd even seen it. The air was alive with the thrill of another battle. His thoughts briefly turned to that kid he'd beat down a few hours ago _"Maybe now the little punk will actually have a little humility."_ He wondered for a second if perhaps the kid was already battling, but when he caught a view of the battlefield he was given a surprising answer.

For a brief instant, he wondered if he was seeing Brock, but once he actually looked he learned he was mistaken. He needed a moment to recall his name-_"Forrest." _Then he remembered, Brock had left him in charge of the gym.

Ash was honestly curious to see how he'd battle.

"Horn attack!"

Nidirno charged, aiming his horn right for his enemy.

Ash shook his head. Foolish, really. Attacking head-on like that. Ash couldn't help but smile, though. He could recall himself doing something a lot like that, against another member of Forrest's family...he sighed. There went his good mood, well, his 'not bad' mood anyway.

Pikachu's eyes were not on the battle, he could tell from a glance who was to be the victor. No, his eyes were somewhere else. Misty's eyes were on the battle, so she hadn't noticed Ash. It was almost funny, in a way, Ash and Misty found themselves in the same place twice in a day, but never close enough to take notice of the other. _"Is somebody messing with them or this just coincidence?" _Pikachu turned an eye to the battle, couldn't hurt to watch.

Couldn't hurt _him_ anyway. Like Ash's had been all those years ago, the trainer's foolishness was about to be punished. Nidorino jumped, planning to hit Rhyperior right in the face.

Forrest wouldn't give him the chance. "Megahorn!"

Rhyperior's lower horn suddenly glowed, and taking careful aim, he thrust it towards his foe. The attacking Nidorino was bashed away by the glowing horn, and fell on his side on the ground, defeated.

Ash smiled, just like his brother, Forrest knew how to end a battle quickly. Brock had picked a great successor. Something suddenly hit Ash. He couldn't recall the exact details right now, but wasn't Flint left in charge of the gym when Brock had first left? So why wasn't he running it anymor-

A hand suddenly clasped on his shoulder. "Hello, Ash." Speak of the devil.

Ash turned to see Flint had been the one to grab his shoulder. "How did you-?" He just blinked, too shocked to finish his question.

"It was Pikachu who gave it away. The cloak just makes sense. Hiding from the public I take it?" Ash nodded. Flint turned to look at Forrest., who was quite preoccupied. "Come with me, Ash."

Ash chose not to refuse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Forrest returned his Rhyperior to his Pokéball, after thanking it for a good job. He turned his attention to his opponent. "Nice try, but you can't expect to win every match just by attacking head-on, you need to use strategy."

The trainer examined his Nidorino, finding him in no danger he nodded, turning to face Forrrest. "I'll beat you one day."

Forrest smiled. "You know where to find me."

The trainer nodded, smile as he withdrew his Nidorino and walked away, the nearest Pokémon Center his intended destination.

Misty smiled. Forrest was definitely a worthy successor to Brock as Gym leader. More so than his parents had been, his mother in particular (Misty didn't take too kindly to the story of Lola running the gym. **She** was the Water-type Gym Leader of Kanto!). She couldn't help feel a bit of pride. Most people underestimated 'younger' Gym Leaders. It brought her great pleasure to see that thought disproved.

Her smile was accompanied by a slight eye twitch as Forrest found himself surrounded by a crowd. It was a shame he also took on Brock's interest in the ladies, _that_ particular characteristic wasn't one of Brocks' better traits. Though, Forrest seemed at least able to somewhat control himself...

Well, he wasn't proclaiming his love to girls left, right and center, that was an improvement. She wondered if Brock's Croagunk ever took the liberty of controlling Forrest too. She shrugged, maybe she'd ask sometime. She looked down at the bundle in her arms. "Wanna get some food, baby?"

A cheerful bouncing was her answer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flint, Pikachu and Ash walked through the streets, drawing almost no attention (to Ash's joy) as they simply wandered through the buzz of the streets.

Pikachu's cheeks were sparking very slightly. There were very few occasions Pikachu was actually really frustrated with Ash. Such occasions were very rare, and far between.

Such an occasion was on this day.

He could Volt Tackle Ash now, he really could. He really, really didn't understand humans sometimes (and he'd spent six years travelling with them). Both Ash and Misty were making this (in his view) needlessly painful. As far as he saw it this was simple, they missed one another, so why the hell weren't they speaking? Okay, he got that the situation wasn't exactly ideal, but something had to be done, and since neither were going to do it unless something changed, he'd take a shot. He jumped down from Ash's shoulder silently, his cheeks glowing yellow.

He vanished.

Flint had been watching. "Where's Pikachu going?"

"Probably gone to pee or something."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took him less than two minutes. Once he'd caught her scent he'd followed. It turned out she was only a couple blocks away. He found Misty and Azuril in a park, both helping themselves to burgers and fries (not an ideal diet for a 'baby', but Pokémon rarely cared about such things). He was downhearted to notice there were no packets of Ketchup lying around.

Ketchup was Ketchup, he wasn't too picky about what happened to contain it.

He approached, unnoticed by Misty, who seemed to be deep in thought about something. It was Azuril who noticed him first, and greeted him with a happy cry.

Misty's head snapped up, and quickly she located the source of her baby's sudden joy. Misty took one look at Pikachu, then her head shot around, looking for Ash. "Pikapi chupi ka pika." _Ash isn't with me._

She gave a stiff nod, not being comfortable with the fact she was _glad_ Ash hadn't come, but at the same time confused that was the case. "Did you sneak off?" A nod was her answer. She lightly patted her lap, and Pikachu gladly jumped into it, quickly finding her hands delivering a good petting. "It's good to see you, Pikachu. I was watching you, when you were at the Championship you know, you've really gotten strong."

Pikachu gave a happy "Chaa" under the petting, but was still aware enough to process the fact. _"She was keeping track of Ash. That's a good sign."_

"Have you been okay, Pikachu?" A nod. "Miss me?" A very enthusiastic nodding.

Misty smiled, well at least Pikachu had missed her enough to come see her. Neither said anything for a moment, Misty just continuing to pet Pikachu (much to his pleasure). Eventually her shoulders betrayed a quiet sigh and she spoke up.

"When did it happen, Pikachu?" She continued to stroke Pikachu's fur, speaking more to herself than to him. "When did I stop being important to him?"

His ears twitched. This wasn't good. He turned up to face her, making her with retreat in the process. "Pika ka pipika pi Pikapi. Pika chu pika chu!" _You are important to Ash! He cares about you!_

She looked down into Pikachu's eyes, Pikachu was certainly trying to tell her something he thought was important, but she wasn't Ash, she couldn't understand Pika-speak fully (or even especially well). She was confident enough however to attempt at guessing what he was saying. "He won't come to me, Pikachu..." She paused for a moment. "Maybe he just doesn't care as much as I thought."

Her attention was grabbed by Pikachu practically jumping in her lap. "Kachu pika pi! Pika pika chu ka pikachu pi ka! Pikapi pichu chu!" _That's not true! He cares about you more than anything! Ash loves you!_

She looked at him in slight confusion for a moment before she smiled softly. She picked up Ash's oldest friend and hugged him.

"I miss him too, Pikachu." She smiled. "I've missed you, too."

Pikachu hugged back. His eyes closed. So this is how things had come to be, between Ash and Misty..._"I could have done something." _He grasped tighter."Pikachu pika, Pikachupi." _I'm sorry, Misty._

Misty had to probe her memory for this one, she'd heard those first two words somewhere. What was the context then? It hit her, and she couldn't help but wonder; What did Pikachu have to be sorry for? She couldn't think of a single thing, but if he felt the need to apologize she'd try to make him feel better. "It's okay, Pikachu." She patted his back lightly. "It's okay."

"_If only it was..."_

Eventually Misty put Pikachu back down, both of them smiling sadly. Pikachu turned to Azurill and gave a small wave, which was met with energetic bouncing. Pikachu jumped off her lap, before he turned back to Misty. "Kachu, Pikachupi." _Goodbye, Misty._

"Goodbye, Pikachu."

He was gone in a flash.

Misty frowned. Ash not talking to her, that was bad enough, but now Pikachu was actually having to sneak off to speak with her.

"_Ash...why won't you just come face me?"_ She sighed. _"I'm worth that much to you at least, aren't I?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He appeared in a flash. He jumped up, taking his place upon Ash's shoulder. "What kept you?"

"Pika ka chu pi ka chupi pi." _Took a while to find some privacy._

Ash didn't inquire any further. Pikachu was still frustrated with him, but if he was going to punish Ash, he'd have to punish himself as well. He decided not to.

What good would it really do?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A while later Ash and Flint found themselves in a bar, sitting at table, each with a drink. Flint, an ale. Ash (and Pikachu) a coke (he was never even touching alcohol again, even when he did become old enough to drink). Ash still kept his hood up, but strangely he didn't draw even the slightest bit of attention. "Shady-dressed characters are a natural fixture in bars," were Flints words on the matter. That'd earned him a glare, which was met with a joking statement "you could lower your hood". Even Ash had enough brains to realize there was no winning that argument.

To deal with fans: Currently, it was 'run like hell'. Drunken fans: Ash didn't feel like coming up with a method today. He would one day encounter the phenomenon known the 'drunken fangirl'. It'd be on the top twenty list of his worst experiences.

The plural of that would be in the top ten.

Everything under "fanboys" would collectively hold a place in the top five.

Now Ash and Flint sat in silence, attempts at small talk had dwindled to little more than wasted efforts. Flint changed tactics, and dived right in.

"You remember once upon a time, I told you of how I left home to pursue my dreams of being a great trainer." Ash nodded, and Flint continued. "Sad to say, my story really is all too common." He sighed, leaning back and looking up. "Men leaving home with delusions of grandeur, only to fail and never return. I'm not sure I understand your story, Ash." Ash's expression changed from awkward to interested. "You came back the single greatest in the world. I'm curious, why aren't you reaching out to your friends?" Ash's expression changed, and Flint answered the silent question. "I overheard part of one of Brock's calls. I figured it out. Now Ash, you're the one that brought all of your friends together, they wouldn't know one another if not for you. So why don't you reach out to them again?"

Ash averted his eyes, and he grasped his drink. Pikachu did too, his sad visage similar to Ash's. They each took a gulp before Ash finally answered. "Grandmaster or not, they can do better than trash like me."

"Trash? Ash, why would you call yourself that?"

He gave a bitter, brief laugh. "My Mom, my own _Mom_ is among those I abandoned. Have I made my point?" Ash sighed. "My Mom is the kindest person I know. Maybe too much for her own good. She should have just slammed the door in my face."

Despite the answer he'd received, Flint smiled, his shoulders briefly shaking with a repressed, nostalgic laugh. "I remember thinking just like that."

"Huh?"

"I wondered if Brock would punch me or worse when I came home, but I was worrying over nothing. Now, well now look at things." Flint smiled. "Everything's perfect." He gave Ash the most meaningful look the boy could ever remember seeing on the man's face, and Ash had a sudden guess where Brock's wisdom (and his instincts said, his love of the opposite sex) came from. "Family is a very unique thing, Ash. Your mother is very kind, yes. But you forget, you're her son, you're the most important thing in her life. Don't focus on your guilt. Just be good to her, really good. And make sure you let her know you love her, she deserves it. Do that and everything will be fine, trust me."

Ash looked down, intently, into the contents of his glass. "I brought problems back with me. Right to her..."

Flint's response was instantaneous. "Fix them." Ash's head snapped up, and Flint's tone was without sympathy or cruelty. "If you don't want to burden your mother with your problems, find a way to deal with them. I came back barely knowing how to run a household, and that made being a good father difficult. I learned how, and as I said, everything is just perfect. If you have your own problems, deal with them."

"I'm not sure how..."

He smiled. "You'll find a way. You have a way of making the best out of bad situations." He chuckled to himself. "Anyone who'd set a Pikachu against an Onyx has enough guts to face anything."

Ash's mind briefly flashed back to the night before, facing down that little boy..."I'm not like that kid anymore."

"I doubt that, Ash. You were a good kid, and in my experience good kids rarely stray too far." Flint raised his drink, carefully considering something before took a swig and spoke again. "You know, my son never speaks of the last time you two talked."

Ash's hand twitched against his glass. "That makes two of us."

"Was it really that bad?"

He nodded. "Let's just say Brock will probably punch _me_ in the face if we ever meet again." He took a gulp of his drink. "Well he _should_." His breath gave a shadow of a brief, bitter laugh. "I would."

Flint smiled. "He wont. He's not exactly happy with you, but this is my son we're talking about. Getting him really angry isn't easy. Like your Mom, he's very forgiving. If your last meeting was that bad, talk to him. And have a good apology ready."

Ash didn't speak for a while, but when Ash's voice was finally heard again, it didn't come from the chair across from Flint.

All eyes turned to the source of Ash's voice.

"Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Even those who had not been paying much attention to the battle beforehand paid close attention, this final blow was a momentous occasion in history, when a new Grandmaster conquered his final challenger and took the crown. The blow slammed into its target, and it could almost be felt in the real world, a shadow of a wave sweeping across the crowd.

All was silent for a moment, before the announcement was made. Ash had just been declared the victor.

Flint smiled, shaking his head in minor disbelief. "Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Grandmaster. I thought you'd go far, but I didn't see this coming." He turned to Ash, raising his glass. "May your reign be even grander than all of your predecessors."

Ash lightly sipped from his drink, his mind hazily processing something. _"My predecessors..."_

He started drinking. He suddenly stopped. Something was brewing in his brain. He took another gulp.

Nope, it was gone.

Wait...that word. That word was stirring in his brain. _"Predecessors...predecessors...predecessors..."_

He raised the glass to his lips again. _"Predecess-"_

He nearly choked. His entire body suddenly shot up in attention.

Now there was an idea!

There **was** someone he could go to!

He shot to his feet, and was off so fast you could have sworn he was attempting Extremespeed. Pikachu jumped from the table, quickly catching up and jumped on his shoulder. All Flint heard was Ash's last words as Ash's glass shakily spun on the table.

"Thank youuuu!"

Flint could only blink in confusion (not that anyone would actually notice that). "What for?" Flint finished off his drink, smiling to himself.

His son had sure made some interesting friends in his travels.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For being so important, the building which housed Charles Goodshow's office was oddly easy to get into, with most of the employees not even giving Ash a second glance as he moved through the halls and floors. The one employee that proved to be a pain was the one who stood between him and Charles, his secretary. A middle-aged woman who clearly didn't have much patience for people who didn't have "official business" (her words) with Charles.

Ash was quickly losing patience. "Will you _please_ just open the door? This is important!"

"And who is important enough to bother Mr. Goodshow at this hour?"

Ash threw off his hood, and was met with a shocked gasp (he hoped this wasn't going to happen every time he revealed his face). "Grandmaster Ash Ketchum!" He slammed both his hands on her desk. "Now open the damn door!"

The secretary's hand slammed on a button under her desk, and the door to Goodshow's office was opened. He moved in quickly, the door shutting him in quickly.

"I hope Mr. Goodshow doesn't fire me..."

Ash took a glancing look around the office, which for a man like Charles Goodshow was oddly...normal. A very large window at the back of the room, closer to the left side, white wallpaper, which was littered with various pictures of Charles with important figures in the Pokémon world. He caught one of himself, just after he became Grandmaster. He, Pikachu and Charles were grinning, all flashing a peace sign at the camera.

It was the most unprofessional picture of any in the room. It was also one of Charles' personal favourites. Currently, Charles was at his desk, glancing up from a small pile of documents in his hands. "Ash! I thought I heard you. What brings you here?"

"You said you owed me a favour. Well I need to call it in now."

Charles blinked in surprise. "Now? Well that's very sudden Ash. It's kinda late-"

"Don't worry. I don't need much. I just need an address."

Now his eyebrow expressed his confusion. "An address? Who on earth could you be wanting to go see?"

Ash took a breath. "Quentin Gelden." Pikachu's ears twitched, but he said nothing.

Whatever name Charles had been expecting, that definitely wasn't it. "Ash, I can't give you that, it's league policy-"

"Please, Mr. Goodshow!" Ash was visibly getting desperate now. "I need that address! He's the only one I can talk to!" He took a breath, and a moment to compose himself. "It's just, all this...it's a lot to adjust to. So I figured he could help me out. I mean, who else better than him?" Charles almost seemed to be considering it. Almost. "Come on, It's me! Who am I gonna tell? And you owe me!"

Charles' hands briefly clasped together as he leaned against them, considering Ash for a moment before, "Alright." Charles removed himself from his chair, walking over to a file cabinet near his desk as Ash watched. He reached in one of the lower draws, pulling it out. Ash couldn't help but notice this draw had very few folders in it, and he managed to catch that the foremost one had his own name upon it. Charles reached for the one behind it, pulling it out and placing it on his desk again. In under a minute Charles had copied some information by hand, folding the piece of paper and handing it to Ash. "Here. The address is a bit out-of-the-way, but you should be fine."

Ash took one look at the address he'd been given, Goodshow wasn't lying about its location, but he'd find it. "Thanks, Mr. Goodshow."

"You're welcome. Now if you don't mind I was about to finish for the day. And do you mind not yelling at my secretary on the way out?"

Ash at least looked somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry." He prepared to turn away. "Call if you need me again. Bye."

"Goodbye, Ash." With that the new Grandmaster made way to the door, opening it to be bombarded with stuttered apologies. Ash silenced them with a lazy raise of his hand ("Don't worry about it"). The door closed moved back into its closed position, leaving the Pokémon League President alone once more.

"I hope he can help you, Ash." Charles was pensive for a moment, before nodding to himself.

He had one last thing to do before his day was done.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash quickly moved through the streets, more eager in his steps than he'd been in a long time. Something had gone right today, very right indeed. It would be hard to knock him out of his good mood-_"What the hell?!"_

"Mrs. Ketchum! Mrs. Ketchum!"

"What's it like being the mother of the Grandmaster, Mrs. Ketchum?"

"What's the Grandmaster like at home, Mrs. Ketchum?"

He couldn't believe it! Well, he probably but he was too damn angry. There was his mother, swamped by cameras and reporters at every angle. She was backed up to a wall currently, and she wasn't the kind of person who'd take throw punches to get out of such a predicament. Clearly someone had figured out who she was, and like a swarm the press had swept in. At least half a dozen microphones were aimed at her, and who knows how many cameras were flashing in her direction. She backed up against the wall a little harder, close in composure to a frightened Sentret.

Ash gritted his teeth. Where the hell did these damn leeches come from?! _"Should have seen this coming!"_ He reached up to his shoulder, holding Pikachu in a single hand before pulling his arm back. "Pikachu, get rid of them!" He threw his best friend, and Pikachu sailed into the sky, right above the crowd of people that had cornered his favourite female human in the world (one of, first place was a tie with Misty). All eyes turned up to the shadow that was suddenly cast over them.

"PIKAAAAA-CHUUUUUUU!" Light was the last thing the crowd saw. They were all suddenly silent, and fell to the ground. Pikachu landed, dusting off his paws. Not exactly 'getting rid of them' but hey, they weren't bothering Delia anymore.

Delia blinked in shock, before sighing in relief, thank Arceus that was over. Delia turned to her son, giving him a shaken, but happy smile.

Ash smiled too, but only on the outside. _"Now I bring __**this**__ to her!" _He made his way to Delia, Pikachu taking a place on her shoulder for a change (if anyone else showed up he was ready). Ash somehow knew exactly what to say.

"Let's go home."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of Chapter

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Author's Notes: HOLY SHIT! A chapter less than ten thousand words! Does this mean I have finally grown tired of droning on and on?

Hell no!

I just ran out of ideas.

This bloated gasbag fully intends to bore as many of you to death as possible while you desperately wade through every needlessly-long paragraph and pointless detail to find anything even resembling a good part.

And for those of you who survive all that; I'm tearing at every heart string I can reach, so prepare yourselves for a tear jerker! (alright, I'm not **that** good but there will be emotional moments)

Those of you who make it through that: Well, I actually haven't planned for that possibility...

Suppose I should draw up an ending. Now, I'm out of original ideas, so what I can get away with plagiarizing...

Well now begins the part of the book I've been (poorly) building up to. I'd have built up longer, but there's nothing important I can think to do until I just get on with it, and as much as I love going on and on, I need something to go on about.

Now let's see how many of you can guess where this is going.

If it actually takes longer than five seconds for anyone to figure it out I'll eat a coke can.


	8. One More Departure

Authors Notes: Another long ass delay. Sorry folks (really am, I want this book to get moving probably more than you), a mixture of life and a writing binge (finished at last) has taken a lot of time from me. Now back to good old...actually since when was this fic good?

Well as long as it draws in readers...

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Just as Ash both predicted and feared; the press followed him back home. They were determined, almost obsessed with getting some face time with either Ash or Delia. Ash and Delia had come home to a crowd outside their door for crying out loud! Only one of Mimey's barriers was keeping them from getting past the fence. That crowd got the same treatment as the last. Delia took care not to step on anyone on her way to the front door, meaning she took a lot longer to actually get to the door than Ash.

That didn't discourage them, but they got creative, or at least they tried to. They'd tried smaller groups, and waited for one member of the household to leave and follow them, that failed quickly. Whenever Delia left the house beyond the garden, Ash would go with, and since Pikachu was with them the stalkers quickly found themselves removed from the land of the conscious.

They'd attempted watching from a distance, but given that there were no other houses close by or any natural cover that had been brought to a swift and (literally) shocking end. Pikachu would sneak in, shock them, and wreck their equipment. The last bit at Ash's order. He figured they'd be less eager to try if they constantly had to buy new cameras.

The last effort was an interesting one, and unlike the others the message got across the first time Ash retaliated. It was late at night, and Ash was in the kitchen when he'd heard something out back. Not wasting time, he reached for his belt, aimed for the open window and unleashed what he'd collected that very morning, just in case.

The calm, dark night was quickly made both bright and loud as Charizard got to work. Aside from some burnt clothing and some mental trauma there was no real damage (Ash had ordered him to keep the flames away from the house and garden). It'd been three days since that incident, and so far no-one else seemed to be showing up. He was on guard though (he was sure they were in town, somewhere. He'd ordered all his Pokémon at Oak lab to keep their eyes open), ready for what he was quickly starting to see as a different kind of battle_, _but for now at least things seemed to be quiet, and Ash was comfortable enough to take the time to think about something...

His bag was already packed. It'd been packed since the day he'd come back. Though the address was kept in the bag also, he already knew it by memory alone. He'd planned his route even before he'd gotten home. He had everything he needed. However...

It wasn't that he didn't want to go, or that he was nervous. On the contrary, he wanted this very much, it just made sense to do, and where he had so very little sense to grasp on to now this was a beacon in these darkest hours. He wasn't nervous, but he wasn't quite _excited_ either. Somewhere in his brain, he just knew this would give him answers, he just didn't know if he'd like what he would find. Even now he found himself conflicted about the whole thing, for a single reason.

It meant setting out again.

Last time he'd set out, he'd gone far further away than a mere region. Leaving again, and so soon, didn't seem right. Yet, currently, he could see no alternative. Not if things were to change.

Currently he was making his way to the lab, Pikachu on his shoulder with a watchful eye. Neither said a thing, which worked out fine for Ash, he was still thinking.

What would it really amount to? Even if he found all the answers he needed, it wouldn't change anything else. It would not miraculously fix everything he'd done. It would not turn back the hands of time.

It wouldn't change things between him and-he shook his head.

He was _not_ thinking about _that_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flint and Forrest had arrived home to find the house nearly empty, save for an exceedingly irritated Brock. When Flint questioned Brock he explained that he'd been forced to remove the rest of the children from the house for now, and was keeping them at the gym. The only other person in the house was Lola, who, Brock had informed him, had taken up yet another new passion, one inspired by Forrest's use of the term "Pokécrap".

Never in all his years had Flint received a greeting with such _colourful_ language from his wife. Forrest had seemingly taken up a vow of silence, at least outside of battles. By some strange coincidence he'd also been the one his youngest siblings had always come to, asking "what does mean?".

Fortunately, Brock had acted fast, so the list was very short. The boys figured she'd drop her latest endeavour (trying to invent a new swear) by tomorrow. Until then they figured it best to avoid her (well Flint didn't, much). Currently Brock and Flint were on their way to the Gym, it was nearly time to start dinner. They were alone, so this was an opportunity.

"Brock." His oldest son turned. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Hm?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash had arrived at Oak's ranch, and quickly every Pokémon he kept there had been gathered, and with that he got right to it.

"Alright, everyone. I'm gonna be out-of-town, out of Kanto entirely for a little while actually. While I'm gone it's your job to guard yourselves and my Mom. I want anyone willing to take shifts guarding my house, and my Mom when she goes out. If reporters show up, get rid of them. I don't care how, just don't do any lasting damage if you can avoid it. Just scare 'em off. Any volunteers?"

His ears were suddenly full of various cries and cheers. Everyone was volunteering. Ash smiled with a quick nod. "Thanks everyone."

Slowly, his various Pokémon started to disperse, and Ash made his way towards a particular member of his team. What he didn't notice behind him, was that Pikachu was silently signalling certain Pokémon who were leaving, and while they did not come to a stop, they slowed their retreat, keeping whatever Pikachu was up to secret, as they could tell he wanted to.

Ash paid no attention, except to, "Charizard, Charla." He looked down and smiled at the approaching, "Ash."

"Char, char!" Ash leaned down to pick up his favourite Charmander, and was luckily spared the affectionate fire as the little fire lizard hugged him. Ash kept the child Pokémon in his arms as he addressed the parents of the little lizard. "I said I'm going out of Kanto. Well I'm headed to Johto. I figured you'd want to be heading home eventually..." He turned to Charizard. "I could come see you off." The Charizards turned to one another, conversing briefly before they turned back and nodded. Charizard had some goodbyes to make, but not before-"CHAAAAAAAAAAR!" Ash flinched as little Ash erupted into tears. Ash gently shook him up and down to try and calm the little Charmander.

"Hey, hey, come on, shhh-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He couldn't quite escape the vented emotion in time. The vented, _heated_ emotion.

Sadness-induced fire; very painful. It did however, have the effect of calming its caster down. With a blackened face, Ash still kept trying to keep him happy. "Don't worry, Ash, you'll see me again, and you get to go back home. You've got a massive family there. Little Ash's voice quivered with repressed tears, and his namesake spoke up again. "I'll make sure to call if you're good, promise to be good?" He was met with vigorous nodding. "Good boy." He leaned down, putting little Ash on the ground before patting his head. "You be a big boy and say your goodbyes."

"Char!" He ran off.

Ash stood up, patting off his face. "I'll come get you just before I go, okay?" His answer was a pair of nods. "Alright, I'll see you then." With that Ash tuned around, but he noticed Pikachu was walking off to-"Where are you going?"

"Pika pipi ka chu!" _Got something to do!_

Ash blinked in slight confusion, but nodded. "Alright then. See you back at home." He figured he could risk one stroll home alone.

When Ash had cleared the fence, Pikachu turned to his team mates."Kaka pika, kachu ka!" _Alright team, listen up!_

They did, and when he was finished he was met only with nods.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brock had been silent for over a minute, and currently he was sitting down upon a rock, his chin resting in his hand. "Dad..." He looked up. "Why did you tell me this?"

Flint smiled, turning around towards the various sounds of his children playing with the Gym's Pokémon.

"I owed that boy a favour."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once more, the box under her bed was set free.

Once more she'd been the one to free it.

This time however, she did not open it.

Misty gently placed the box upon a small table. She'd been putting this off, either by burying herself in gym duties, or whatever excuse she could make up at a given point (her everyday life left much ammunition for that). She'd leave the box here, a reminder at what she had to do.

She could not put this off forever.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash met no one on his way home, and that gave him time to think. Think on what he was to do, and struggle with himself on if he really should. It proved to be easier than he would have predicted.

"_I shouldn't leave Mom behind."_ He stopped, turning out to gaze into the distance. _"But this might be the only way for me to make some sense of...everything." _He nodded, resolute.

He was going, tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tomorrow had come.

He'd woken at dawn, and within a couple of hours he was at the door. The only thing that had prevented him leaving sooner was the fact there were simply no boats leaving any sooner than the one he was to catch.

Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder had reached the door, with Delia just behind him. He took one look out the window, the weather seemed fine. At least he wouldn't be walking in the rain...

He sighed.

"Is something wrong, Ash?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, before he spoke, his voice void of that flare she was so used to. "It just seems like a lot of trouble..." He turned around. "Just to find out what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Honey." She smiled. "It doesn't matter what you're _supposed_ to do." Ash's face spoke for him, but there were many words which could have expressed his shock. Still she kept smiling. "As long as you're happy with your life, then you're doing what you _need_ to. It doesn't matter if that's being the best trainer in the world, or taking care of Pokémon on a farm." She put her hands on his shoulders. "Just do whatever makes you happy, okay?"

Ash's mouth opened, but he did not speak, though he did wish to. His eyes were focused on her, for a moment. He gave an unsure nod, before reaching down for his shoes and placing them upon his feet. When finished he rose to address her.

"Mom. I'm...I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. Could be a few days, a week, maybe more." He seemed to be fighting with himself about something before. "I'll call every day, I promise!"

She understood why he felt the need to say that. She didn't like the thought of him leaving, even for such a short time. Not when she'd just gotten him back, but she knew that for whatever reason, he needed to do this. Delia smiled, before she kissed his forehead. "Don't worry about me, honey. Just come back home safe. Take as long as you need."

He suddenly shifted forward, embracing her before she could respond. "Bye, Mom."

She hugged him back, gently. "Goodbye, Ash."

"Chu chu!" _Bye bye!_ Pikachu jumped onto Delia's shoulder, briefly nuzzling her before he retreated back to Ash. Eventually mother and son parted, and Ash smiled before he walked out the door, gently shutting it behind him. She'd remained there until the crunching of the ground under his feet died away. She was letting him go again. The last time he'd parted from her she'd gradually heard less and less from him until...she just didn't any more. She couldn't shake a voice, a voice whispering from the back of her mind...

What if it happened again?

She shook her head, no. That wasn't going to happen this time. Ash had come back, it took him far longer than she'd wanted, but he'd come back.

He'd come back this time too. She smiled, turning around, briefly hesitant about what she was going to do. She was planning to do a bit of household maintenance, but...

There was something else, something else bugging her. Let's see...she'd seem him off, she'd checked he knew where he was going, she'd checked the boat times, she'd made sure he'd packed everything, she'd-

Oh no, she'd completely forgot! How could she forget something so important? With rare vigour she turned, rushing towards the door as fast as she could move. She reached the front door, forgoing putting on shoes and just opening it, clearing her garden in seconds. She turned her head in all directions, looking for-she found him. She prayed he'd be able to hear her.

She breathed in as deep as she could, and yelled with all the power her lungs could grant...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash briefly adjusted the hood of his cloak. It wasn't exactly difficult, but wearing a hat along with a hood took a little preparation for it to properly hide him. It likely wasn't the most ideal combination of clothing to start with, but it would be a long, long time before he stopped wearing a hat.

Actually, scratch that. He wanted to be _buried_ in a hat. Preferably _that _particular hat. Now if he could just find the damn thing. He'd turned his room nearly upside down in his search for it but nothing, and through one incident or another, he'd kept forgetting to ask his Mom about it.

Speaking of which, he was surprised she'd let him go so easily. This would not be a one day thing, he wasn't lying about the time frame. He could be over a week, maybe two. Yet, she had let him go...

Guess she didn't seek to keep a hold on him as much as she once had, she was more ready to let Ash go out on his own, and make his own mistakes. (more of them anyway)

Maybe things really had changed.

"ASH!"

Then again..."Remember to change your you-know-whats every day!"

Ash stopped. Thankfully his cloak perfectly hid his face, otherwise he'd have been able to put forth a proposal for a new shade of red, the name of which could only properly be pronounced while extremely embarrassed...

"MOOOOOOOMMMMMM!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The water below was carved asunder by the boat that moved through it, the waves it created falling into the sea from once they came. High above this dance of water and metal Ash stood, cloaked, though with the two Charizard's behind him very few would have been stupid enough to come near him anyway (a younger Ash would have come running). His eyes were on the mass of land growing ever further from him.

He remained where he stood, watching the mass grow further and further away, his mind only upon getting his task done as soon as possible so he could return. Ash turned away from the mainland when the ferry finally got far enough to render it little more than a dot.

It was time. It was time to go and meet the one person who might be able to give him answer. It was time to meet one who had stood in his place.

It was time for him to go and meet...his predecessor.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of Chapter

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Author's Notes: Even shorter than the previous chapter. I could have perhaps done without it, but I felt a transition was needed between last chapter and the next, even if a short one. The next chapter will be more of a "real" chapter. (more length, more detail, more plot advancement) Promise.

Likely you can guess at least one detail that is going to happen in upcoming chapters, but have no fear, it's the content which will be woven to a little less predictable. So with that in mind: Prepare yourselves for a new arc in the story! One full of wonder*, emotion*, drama*, suspense*, romance*, action* and amazing* plot points.

All this will culminate in a plot arc that will leave you in absolute awe!*

*We all know I'm lying here.

*Over the top angst counts, right?

*Maybe...

*...yeah, lying out my ass on this one.

*What fic are **you** reading? A morgue's more romantic than this fic! (and now I've left you with that image. Have fun!)

*Lots of it! (At least **one** of these should be true! It might even be good!)

*Can I alter the definition of "amazing"? (hey, I already met the minimum.)

*My bullshit detector just exploded! "Low Sensitivity" my ass!


	9. Pieces of Punishment

Authors Notes: Ash is back in Johto, now doesn't that bring back memories?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They'd arrived, at a port in Goldenrod City they'd touched down in Johto. They'd made their way to just beyond the city borders, and were currently in a field. Ash stood before the three members of a family, the mother of which was currently tied to a familiar basket and balloon. It was time for trainer and Pokémon to part again.

Ash had to hold his breath as a much younger Ash of a different species practically strangled him. He turned to Charizard when the grip finally loosened a bit. "You know your training routine, I'll call if I have any ideas." He was met with a nod. "I was thinking we should all go train as a team about two, maybe three months before the Championship comes around again. That alright with you?" Charizard growled as he nodded, clearly looking forward to it. Ash smiled. "Then this is goodbye again, Charizard." Charizard closed his eyes and nodded slowly. It was definitely not forever, or even as long as some previous partings, but a parting was a parting, and the fact was they did have to go separate ways. Ash's home was far away from Charizard's now. Yet, as long as they will to battle burned in them both, they were guaranteed to meet again. Both knew it. Both were okay with it.

A certain other Ash on the other hand..."CHAAAAAR!"

The older Ash was silent as the blazes consumed his face, Pikachu watching from the ground with a sigh. Hopefully Chrizard's son would outgrow this habit soon enough. After all, what sane person _wanted_ a Flamethrower to the face?

The fires ended, and the little Charmander soon found himself being placed in the basket. "I'll see you again, okay Ash?"

"Char! Char!" He was jumping up and down, stopping when a hand was placed on his head, giving an affectionate rub. The Charmander still smiled, even as the hand parted. He watched as his namesake turned his attention to his father.

"What? No love?" Charizard only snorted in amusement before-"YAAAAAHHHHH!"Ash did a rather convincing impression of a steam train before, "Ah, that's the stuff."

Pikachu only shook his head. Maybe he should try shock therapy...

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

From there they'd walked, step by step, moment after moment, stopping only for brief breaks to eat. Eventually the sun's movement across the sky came to a set, and the moon rose up in its place. After that both came to a stop, and they lay down for the night. Soon Ash was sleep, and apparently Pikachu was too.

Apparently.

Pikachu opened his eyes, his ears twitching. He took a quick look at Ash, who was sound asleep. He nodded, reaching for Ash's back, quickly extracting something from a side pocket. A small, round, red and white object. He smiled, moving away from Ash before vanishing.

He was deep in the forest by the time he was still again, his fur and the grass below him being blown in a steady beating wind. Pikachu raised the Pokeball to the source of the wind. "Pika chu." _Thank you._

A red light shot from the ball...

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It'd been three days since then. Three days of walking through Johto, one would think four and a half days would be more than enough time to find a single house, but there were two factors to consider: First, Ash's destination really was out-of-the-way of any main road.

As for the other factor...

"Ka pi." _Say it._

"No."

"Pika chu, pi ka kachu. Pi ka pi." _Come on, I wont laugh. Just say it_.

"No!"

"Chuuu." _Please._

"No! Now pipe down!"

Ash took in the scenery around him, the wide fields, with a forest visible in the distance. Currently he walked next to a stream, a school of Remoraid swimming within it, quickly passing him. Under the bright sky, on such a beautiful day, it was easy to forget-"Kapchu pi pikachu pi pi kachu ka." _It'd be better if you just admitted it you know._

"Fine! I'm **lost!** You happy?"

"Chaa." _Very. _"Ka chu pika chuchu pi." _Now admit the other thing._

"No way."

"Ka pi." _Say it._

"No."

"Ka pi!" _Say it!_

"No!"

"Ka pi pikachu!" _Say it already!_

"NO!"

"Ka pi kachu pika chu!" _Say it or I'll shock you!_

"I ain't saying it!"

"KA PI!" _SAY IT!_

"Never!" He suddenly reached up, pulling Pikachu off his shoulder and gazing at him at eye level. "Ketchup is not better than Barbecue Sauce!"

Pikachu's cheeks violently crackled."Chukapi!" _Blasphemy!_

Ash merely sighed. "I should have left you at home." He put his best friend back on his shoulder before walking on, his thoughts briefly with the very place he just mentioned.

"_Wonder if the press showed up again?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia extracted a trowel from the earth, the reason for her actions understood only by her and Mimey, who was currently doing the same deed at another part of the garden. Unlike the usual routine, where they would do this alone, they had company.

Buizel lightly sprayed water over a patch of flowers, while not too far away Glalie was freezing some weeds. When he was finished freezing he turned to Buizel, who nodded before approaching. He grasped the frozen weeds and pulled, extracting it from the earth with ease. They held satisfied looks, in the brief moment before Mimey returned and shuffled them away, sweeping in on the disturbed spot to...actually neither Glalie nor Buizel understood the finer points of gardening so they didn't take a guess. They just turned to Heracross, who simply shrugged, as clueless as they. This was what all day was looking to be like, confusing and boring (to all but two).

Well, almost boring. The three Pokemon turned to a scene beyond the fence.

"Hey, hey, uhh, n-n-nice-Poke-"

"BAY!" a 'crack' sounded in the air. Then came a second "Torr." Followed by a third. "Bulba!"

Beyond the fence a small pack of frightened reporters and cameramen found themselves faced with a trio of grass Pokémon, none in the mood to let them pass. The press had figured with Ash gone their chances would improve. They'd thought wrong. Who would have ever thought Ash Ketchum could actually practice cunning?

Delia suddenly frowned. "Bayleaf, could you come help me with these roses, please?

Bayleaf turned to Torterra and Bulbasaur, who both nodded. She threw her head back, her voice echoing in all directions. "BAYYYYYYYYYY!"

She quickly ran, placing herself within the bounds of the fence. Torterra turned, walking as quick as he was able out of the road, and onto the grassy field, Bulbasaur following him. Both kept their vine whips extended, making sure no one could get close to the fence.

The air was suddenly alive with the sounds of rumbling, the ground shook, the air was full of the sounds of heavy steps. The eyes of the intruders gazed in all directions to try to find the source.

They found it.

They ran.

Neither Delia nor any of the other Pokémon took any notice as the source of the noise ran by, all thirty of the mad beasts relentlessly pursuing their targets right out of the town. It was only a few minutes later did Delia take a look at the dust cloud in the distance, which was only getting further away. She took a good look at the road, then at the grass beyond her house with a thoughtful expression.

"Hmmm. Well if I ever need land flattened..."

They'd have to come back first, and there were a few sayings about rampaging Tauros...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hours later the pair found themselves in a small town between Goldenrod and Ecruteak, and they walked slowly through the streets, paying no mind to its citizens. Ash let his eyes creep around over the area, strange as it may have been, the architecture in Johto had always been of some interest to him. Just because how it looked, Johto always had that unique touch that seemed to make it more in-tune with the times of old, and no region better than Johto spoke of history in their buildings. Many of the buildings here were likely new (less than half a century easily), but he easily found some which were definitely older. There was definitely some history here, and years ago he likely would have had some kind of adventure with it, but today, alas, he was here for the future, not the past. He simply walked, his eyes darting over random things. Children, plants, a roaming Houndour, a very old tree, some poster in a window, a letter box-he suddenly stopped for a second.

A poster? He took a second look, before smiling. Yet another advertisement for the Pokémon league. He should have gotten used to them by now, and mostly he had. Yet this one had...a unique touch to it. It was a picture depicting, among various other little things, six people.

The foremost figure was Ash himself, with five other figures less emphasized around him, but all of them didn't need a poster to inspire attention. These people did it all on their own.

The Regional Champions.

Below Grandmaster they were the strongest, the five foremost elite. One for each region that competed in the world Pokémon League (which the various conferences were segments of). They were the pride of their respective nations, and though it was not compulsory, it would be shameful for them to miss the Grandmaster Championship, as such it had been decades since even one reigning Champion had missed the Championship.

Ash had always known a Champion was supposed to be the strongest of their nation, but until he'd seen them fighting all out he hadn't grasped just how strong they were. Even the various Elite Four groups strengths paled before these titans. While it was true there were people like Ash had been, trainers mostly void any formal title or rank which could also clearly outclass Elite Four members, for the most part even they were utterly decimated by any one of these five.

A little-known fact about the inner workings of the Championship was how matches were arranged. While for the most part, the first match-ups were decided at random, it was fixed so that champions would not face one another until later rounds. It was designed so anticipation could be built for when the time came for two Champions, two nations to clash. The world had been denied that this year. No champion had faced another.

They weren't that lucky.

He grinned, they had been the greatest battles of his life. He let his eyes wander over them all, remembering every battle, every blow, every close call...dammit he was itching for a real battle! His eyes did a double take on the Johto Champion. He really enjoyed fighting the Johto Champion especially. They were so much alike...

Wait, he was **in** Johto! Next stop!:...

...

"Dammit!"

"Pi?"

He sighed. "Should have found out where he lives..." Looking at the poster Pikachu nodded. He turned from the poster and went on his way, walking through the town with a single destination in mind.

Quickly, Ash located a restaurant, hunger demanding food to quell it. Making an admirable effort at disguising his voice, Pikachu and Ash quickly found themselves sat at a table near the entrance without being bothered. Ash subscribed to a simple philosophy these days: Know where the exits are.

If he was found, he wanted out quickly.

Ash finished applying a generous amount of ketchup to his meal before giving the bottle up to Pikachu, which he would no doubt empty before long. Ash let his mind wander to something else, to the man he was going to see. To Ash, it was almost the definition of wrong itself that he had not gotten the honor of fighting him for the title.

The truth was no-one had.

It had shaken the world, almost as much as Ash becoming Grandmaster. He could remember it like it was yesterday. Months ago, an announcement had been aired. He'd been in a room in a Pokémon Center, standing with a dish of soup while a news report (he'd lost track of the remote) aired.

"_Pokémon Grandmaster, Quentin Gelden has announced his retirement."_

"_**WHAT?!**"_

After that he'd started violently cursing, partly owing to the hot soup that had covered his feet. A similar bout of swearing took place when he got invited to the Championship, he'd been cheated! The greatest battle one could ask for and he'd been denied the thrill. What was worse he hadn't come to Quentin now to battle either, but just to _talk_.

Something had gone _really, really _wrong in his life.

Quentin's retirement had made this year's championship a unique deal. Normally, the championship worked not unlike a league conference. One by one, the competitors would fight it out, until only one remained. After that the Grandmaster would descend from their throne to wage one battle, one glorious war against whoever had earned the honor to stand against them. That was one thing Ash absolutely _despised_ about his title. **Despised!** Now _he_ was one who would _sit_ upon that throne, _waiting_ for _**one**_ battle.

Next year's championship was going to be pure Hell. He would ask what he'd done to deserve such a fate, but then he'd remember. He just sighed, before digging into his meal. For a while both Pikachu and Ash ate in silence, until the blare of the TV in the corner caught their attention.

Ash resisted the urge to vent his annoyance in some way, opting just to whisper. "Remind me to ask Quentin how long this'll last. I'm sick of being on TV."

"Pika chu kaka chu pikachu pika cha." _Never have said that a few years ago._

"I didn't know what I was getting myself into back then."

Pikachu nodded. This was true. He turned to watch the screen too, admittedly they were both a little curious, this was not a battle re-run.

After a minute though they wished it was.

"We already know of the new Grandmaster's amazing victories, but what about his personal life? After extensive effort, we managed to track down and interview those who have actually travelled with him over the years!"

...

"..." A piece of burger meat fell from Ash's mouth.

"..." A drop of ketchup slipped from Pikachu's.

He gulped down his mouthful.

Pikachu downed his.

"...crap."

"...ka."

Well, he had wondered before, and now it was happening. Someone had bothered to check into his _rea_l life. His reputation was about to be butchered.

"We have interviews with everyone who has ever travelled a region with Ash, save for one. Unfortunately our crews were unable to reach Tracey Sketchit. Who currently is an assistant to Professor Samuel Oak."

Ash smirked. He was pretty sure he knew why that was. His smirk quickly vanished; they'd reached everyone else. He couldn't quite ignore the TV...

"The people who travelled with him have quite interesting stories to tell. Our first interview takes us to the Hoenn region. To the youngest companion ever to travel with Grandmaster Ash Ketchum, Max. Who, for those who are unaware, is the youngest child and only son of the Petalburg City Gym leader, Norman, who was also present for this interview."

The screen changed, and it showed Max, by the looks of it just in front of the Gym. Near him Norman stood up against the wall. Likely Norman had demanded he be present, Max wasn't exactly accustomed to being interviewed. Max looked nervous briefly before Norman smiled. Ash watched as the first question was asked, not really noticing how the tone of the questioner was rather soft, likely to better accommodate a child, which Max still was. Ash did notice a woman was conducting the interview however, just from voice.

"Now Max, as you were too young to go on a journey of your own, you travelled with your sister and the Grandmaster, right?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to stay at home, so I got Ash and May to let me go with them."

"Will you be going on a Pokémon Journey of your very own one day?"

Max nodded. "I'm heading off next month." He glanced at the Pokémon standing next to him. "With my buddy Ralts."

Ash knew nothing of how interviews were conducted, but somehow he could tell the question about Max's own journey was dropped for the purpose of the next..."Being one of the Grandmaster's closet friends, has he promised to teach you any of his tricks?"

Max briefly looked hesitant, taking a few seconds before he gave an unsure answer. "I'm not sure about teaching. But he promised me a battle once. But we haven't talked in a long time, so I'm not sure..."

Norman's eyes briefly glanced at his son, knowing that even a child of Max's intelligence was unsure how to end an interview, especially one like this. Had anyone asked him at this point, he'd have told them that letting this interview happen was a bad idea. He could tell by now that the media was just fishing for a story, and he could tell now it's not one that would work in Ash's favour. Alas, his children had not told him that Ash had abandoned them. "I think that's the end of this interview. Now if you wouldn't mind..."Norman slowly started to shift Max away, leading him (Ralts following) back into the gym with his arm, but before Max was beyond the threshold of the door a suddenly desperate voice spoke.

"Do you have anything to say to him?"

Max turned and grinned. "Yeah!" Max expertly ducked under Norman's arm, placing himself right in front of the camera as he, in an oddly spontaneous moment, seemed to be trying to look right at Ash..."I knew you could do it, Ash! Way to kick some ass!"

"MAX!"

That was definitely Caroline's voice, and she didn't sound too happy. Clearly Max knew that too, because his grin completely vanished. "Oops." Max's head suddenly started to shift from side to side, before "I still want that battle, Ash!" He ran off, so fast he was nearly a blur.

The feed froze, before zooming out and the main focus was the presenter. For a moment nothing important would happen.

Ash felt a potent sting of guilt strike him, he'd spared Max no real thought since his first night back at home. His thoughts had been elsewhere, and spent a considerable time being thrown around by the mess he'd created. Now; he had a moment, and not much choice but to give him thought, and he realized; Max represented a unique opportunity. Maybe...just maybe, there was a definite first step to making things right with him.

"Looks like we're off to Hoenn soon."

"Chaa." Pikachu smiled.

Everything felt oddly...weightless. For a brief moment Ash could honestly say he was happy, but only for that brief moment.

"This next interview is a special one, because we were lucky enough to find two of the Grandmaster's former partners together. The first of them to travel with him is actually Max's older sister, and Norman's daughter, May. Also known as the Princess of Hoenn."

Ash blinked. He thought that was just a name Dawn had come up with. Speaking of which..."And the second is Dawn, daughter of retired Sinnoh Top Coordinator, Johanna."

There went his good mood. The two of them together, this was not going to be fun to watch. He would just get up and go, but his legs seemed to ignoring his commands at this point.

All he could do was sit there and take it.

"So how did each of you meet him?"

It was a few seconds before someone spoke, Dawn silently been given the go-ahead to speak first. "Well actually I met Pikachu first. He and Ash were separated and I thought he was wild. I tried catching him, but all I got for my effort was a wrecked bike."

May suddenly spoke up. "Wait, Pikachu wrecked your bike too?"

"Yeah."

Ash blinked...he never did pay them back for those bikes. Strange, why was it that he couldn't seem to befriend girls without Pikachu wrecking their bikes? And why couldn't Pikachu just _not_ wreck their bikes? He turned to Pikachu, sharing what he'd noticed and, "Are one of us cursed?"

Pikachu shrugged, before both turned back to the screen.

The story of May and Ash's meeting was briefly told, before they were asked what Ash had been like. Each had given similar answers, of how Ash had assisted with, and joined in their contests. Their story varied in the smaller details, but despite the tone they spoke in, or their highly specific choice of words used at times, one thing was clear: They really did enjoy travelling with Ash, and had looked up to him.

Naturally, Ash missed that meaning. All Ash really got from the story was he'd travelled with them, then up and abandoned them when they were no longer at his side.

He couldn't exactly challenge that perceived claim.

"Is there anything you two would like to say to him?"

Dawn didn't even wait a second. "Yeah!" She put both her hands on her hips, her face holding a glare unlike any he'd seen from her. "You're a jerk!"

May briefly glanced at her friend before looking at the camera. "I-" She closed her mouth, her eyes briefly avoiding the camera before she shook her head. "No. I don't have anything to say."

With that the footage quickly came to an end, and Ash was left in the silence, but his own mind was screaming at him.

"_You're a jerk!"_

Only Dawn had said it, but he was certain May agreed, but for whatever reason just opted not to vocalize it. A thousand words a thousand times worse would have been more befitting, but they struck deep enough. Not bothering to contact them was bad enough, but dammit why didn't he just at least stay to properly see them off? It didn't matter now, both were extremely angry with him. If May was mad, then he doubted his chances with Max. The two siblings were very loyal to one another, and he'd not force Max in any situation where he'd have to choose, so attempting to rebuild bridges was likely out of the question. He'd go and give Max a battle anyway, a promise was a promise, and he was not about to break his word. He sighed. Now how would life choose to kick him while he was down next?

"And next on our list is former Pewter City Gym Leader, Brock. Who has spent more time travelling with the Grandmaster than anyone but his Pikachu."

He just _had_ to wonder.

He found his feet, but he couldn't bring himself to move. Now, it felt like he was almost obligated to stay. He watched as the video feet started, and watched as one of his oldest former friends appeared on screen.

He felt, damn he couldn't quite process all he felt. Their last meeting viciously flashed before his eyes. Every word, every yell, every single detail. Everything passed before his mind in seconds, up until his own final words...

How could he have said something like that?

Brock's face was, hard to define. It used to be Brock's general mood was easy enough to define, but his expression was a bit more serious than Ash was used to seeing, though what he was used to was based in a distant past.

"So, Brock. How did you meet the Grandmaster?"

Brock's mouth shifted upwards in a repressed laugh. The story of their meeting was briefly told, of how Ash, full of fire and well, not much else sent his Pikachu against Onyx. If Ash ever had a reputation as a master tactician then it just went out the window, though his reputation as one who just _wouldn't back down_ was solidified in time as Brock told them of their second match. Then came the end of that story, with the formation of what became Ash's first band of misfits. The aspiring Pokémon Master, the Pokémon Breeder in the making and the runaway Gym Leader.

Such a unique group, many would wonder exactly how such a group had ever managed to function. Only three knew the answer; they just did.

"How long did you travel with the Grandmaster?"

"I travelled with him through Kanto and Johto, and through the Orange Islands for a while. I also went with him through Hoenn and Sinnoh." He smiled. "Four years. Four long and very interesting years." His smile retreated. "Leaving him wasn't nice, but I had my own dream I had to follow."

Ash released a breath he didn't notice he'd been holding. Brock hadn't mention their meeting in Unova...thank Arceus. If only it was possible, he'd like to drag _that_ to his grave, but alas that partly depended on Brock. If he wanted to give the details, that would be it, but it would not be today. With that worry briefly gone, he took notice of Brock's last words...

Adapting to travelling without Brock. That had been the single strangest experience in his entire journey. Brock had travelled with him for four years (with some brief gaps), and it was months before Ash got used to **not** having him around. Every time he ran into a Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny he automatically got ready to react (hey, no one else was around to do it, and just letting Brock do as he would was just against the law of nature), and he'd briefly be confused when he realized there was nothing to react to. The funny thing in all that is during the brief moment Brock and he were together again, Ash didn't react right away, and Brock went absolutely gaga over the Nurse Joy they'd run into.

Pikachu quickly ended that. Brock later went into some kind of speech into how the Nurse Joys of Unova were so different from the rest of the worlds. Ash just ate his food, not really getting it, but smiling none the less. He honestly missed Brock's antics, but more than that he missed the other things Brock represented.

That certain wisdom, a certain perceptive, a certain guiding light (not to mention that high quality cooking, Ash didn't food anywhere near that good again until he finally came home). Brock was a myriad of things which Ash thought there might be at least a few single words which would sum it up well, but he couldn't name them.

It was almost funny... he was sure Brock could have named a few. Both Pikachu and Ash turned, to watch the final part...

"Is there anything you would like to say to him?"

Brock was quiet for a moment, looking away from the camera. His gaze turned to the distance, through a window which was shining light upon him. His shoulders shifted with a heavy breath, before he turned to the camera once more.

"I considered you a brother, Ash."

And with that, the interview was over. In short order the footage was ended and it was back to the studio once more. Pikachu turned to Ash, but found his head bowed, and under that cloak he could not see a thing. Ash's hand slowly reached out for his glass, and he took a few gulps before he put it back down.

"_Brother."_

Maybe that was one of the words he was looking for, but he had no time to ponder on it.

His torture was not yet over.

"And last in our interviews is the first travelling companion the Grandmaster ever had." He gasped mid-sip, choking. There had to be a mistake! "The current Gym Leader of the Cerulean City Gym, Misty."

He shouldn't have, but his head shifted in the direction fast enough to briefly warrant the worry that his head would break off.

There was no mistake, except him looking. In seconds _her_ face was on screen.

If the surge of emotion that sprung up seeing Brock was a river, then this was a volcano, and it was erupting with all the power it had to unleash, and it had a seemingly endless supply to draw from. He'd need far more than just one word to do this sudden surge due justice.

Then there was _that_. That feeling that somehow seemed to resonate with something just in front of his heart. _Why_ was he still carrying those things?

As he looked at her, he realized. The real question was; why couldn't he let them go?

"Misty. You are the first person ever to travel with the Grandmaster, correct?"

She nodded. "Met him on his first day."

"How did you meet?"

She smiled. "I fished him out of a lake." She briefly looked to an area right next to the camera, likely she'd gotten a look of disbelief for that. "I'm not kidding. I fished him and Pikachu right out of the water. I thought I just had a big bite. Well I was right, it just wasn't what I was expecting." She briefly looked upwards, but she was looking far further than merely the sky. "There he was, that newbie Pokemon trainer with a hurt Pikachu in his arms and an army of angry Spearow on his tail." Her smile wavered slightly. "Sad to say the first thing I ever did was slap him. He got me back for that though..." She was quiet for a moment, before she laughed lightly. "He wrecked my bike. I swore that I'd follow him until the day he paid me back." She opened his mouth, but sighed. Her smile slowly receded into nothingness. "In a way I ended up keeping my word there." Ash briefly looked away...

Misty leaving, it had been...the worst of all departures. She had been there since day one, never wavering, never leaving (though close calls did arise), through thick and thin she'd remained. He really had thought she was always going to be there. They'd always be together. It wasn't until after she'd gone did he realize he'd thought this, and the reality was hard to come to terms with..._Misty was gone. _His hand slowly rose from the table, lightly touching against the now-familiar bump in front of his heart. It looked like, on some level, he was _still_ coming to terms with it.

He doubted he ever really would.

He looked back just in time to hear "What was he like in his earliest days?".

She didn't hesitate in the slightest, and with a nostalgic smile she spoke. "He was an idiot. Brash, stubborn, thick-headed. The works. And he had _no_ sense of direction."

Across from him Pikachu smirked. "Kachu pipi ka chu?" _Ain't that the truth?_

"Hey!"

Misty continued. "But he was always fun to be with. You never could have a dull moment with him, even if you wanted one. You couldn't have asked for a better heart of a group or a more loyal friend." Ash suddenly flinched. _"__loyal__"_

"He..." She sighed. "He was my best friend."

He flinched again. _"__was__"_

"One day he just stopped talking to me, we'd been growing apart for a while but..." Ash gulped down a sudden lump, "a while" was a bit of an understatement. "One day that was it. He'd let me go." Ash turned away again, memory failed him on who gave up first, but the odds of it failing Misty were slim to nothing. It was of no surprise it'd been him, yet somehow the certainty that it was his fault still hurt.

"Maybe I wasn't his best friend after all."

With that Ash slammed a hand on the table, several notes parting from him as he took to his feet. He swept out the door in the very next second, Pikachu running after him. "Pikapi!"

Misty's next words were prevented from leaving the bounds of the restaurant as the door shut once more.

"Still, I miss him. He has that effect on people. You really can't help but love him."

"Is there anything you would like to say to him?"

She smiled. "Drop us all a line, will ya? We miss you." She grinned. "You'll only get the mallet once." She winked. "Promise."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He could not see. Before him was only a liquid blur. It cleared briefly, before blurring again. He ignored it, and just kept walking. "Pikapi!" He didn't stop, nor react as a weight put itself upon his shoulders.

Pikachu still couldn't see his face, but he knew his body language enough to guess what was going on under there. He had to tell him, he had to tell him about his own meeting with Misty. "Pikap-"

"Let's just get there, get this over with and go home."

Pikachu's voice was briefly trapped in his throat. Ash had never cut him off like that. He couldn't just give up.

"Pikapi. Pikachupi-"

"PIKACHU!" He came to a stop, but in an empty street no eyes turned to see. He didn't look at Pikachu either."Just...just leave it." He was still for another moment, before one foot move out in front of them, then the other, and soon Ash was walking again.

Pikachu just...left it.

XXXXXXXXXXX

By the end of the day they'd found the correct path before calling it a night. When morning came Ash and Pikachu made their way to the only sign of civilization they'd seen in miles.

They walked through a forest, through which a clear path had been made. Eventually the passed through it, and passed through it, and found themselves before a hill, when they reached the top they had to stop for a moment. The area before them was like some kind of paradise. There were wide open fields, several very large ponds, and various habitats which could only belong to certain kinds of Pokemon.

And there were Pokémon. This place did not hold the numbers found back on the Oak lab ranch, but still far more than Ash was used to seeing in one place. His eyes swept over them quickly, taking in random Pokémon which happened to reside here. Scizor. Magcargo, Luxray, Milktank and Tauros, Lopunny. Clearly the humans residing here had travelled far, and brought some specimens back with them, because he saw even more Pokémon which he knew were not native to Johto or even Kanto. His eyes grew tired of looking. Instead he looked at something further in the distance.

At the center of this place resided a house, several stories high and easily three times as wide as the last house Ash was in. Currently the sky blue house had no windows open, but had Ash been the peeping type he could have just taken a look in through the large constructs of glass. That would defeat his purpose entirely, however, so he just made his way towards the house. As he did many Pokémon took curious glances at him, and thinking it best to be friendly, he smiled at them. One of the Luxray's he'd previously seen approached him, and he held out a hand for it to examine. It sniffed him a few times before wanting to be petted. He obliged it for a moment before, satisfied, it walked away. This satisfied the rest of the onlookers, and they lost interest in him after that.

He walked quickly to the door, but he stood at the door for a moment, deciding exactly how to go about this, and wondering, briefly, if he should really be here. Was this really right to do? He was about to pester a complete stranger. He wrestled with it for a moment, until he found what little he could resembling a justification: Were the roles reversed, he would offer his help, assuming he could be of some use.

Didn't really feel like he was these days.

He raised a hand, what was really the worst that could happen? He guessed at most the door could just be slammed in his face, and there were far worse fates that could befall him.

Worse had.

He reached for the brass Hoothoot-shaped locker, pulling it and knocking it three times. He waited a handful of seconds before the sounds of operation sounded from behind the door. It opened, and the one Ash had come to see was before him.

They met eye-to-eye, and quickly Ash became aware of the dark green pools that were Quentin's eyes. They, like the man, were much older than Ash, and wiser. Were Ash better at reading eyes, he'd have noticed an interesting paradox, of a man who seemed laid back, yet whose mind was constantly in motion. Quentin's face was also much older, not so much that age was all one could see, but enough for lines of it to mar what was once a portrait of youth. His face was void of any other typical marks of ageing (moustache, beard, other facial hair), leaving a notable chin exposed. A far different person than Ash might have wished to test its durability.

His hair was white, but Ash knew this was not from age, it was simply his natural color. Similar to Ash, he did not believe in the concept of grooming his hair, yet like its color, Quentin needed to extend no influence keep his hair as it was. His hair was like a field of white grass, before it descend behind its head, somehow becoming much sharper in appearance. His choice of clothing at this moment was simple, which is all one could reasonably expect. A black shirt and dark brown slacks. He did not bother with footwear, or socks for that matter.

Quentin smiled, one that reached his eyes, and Ash could now perfectly see a man he had idolized for much of his life. One he had fought for years to be worthy of succeeding. "Hello, Grandmaster Ketchum."

Ash suddenly shuddered. "_Please_ don't call me that. It's just...too weird, coming from you."

He chuckled. "Fair enough. So what brings you to this little scrap of nowhere?"

Ash reached up, nervously scratching the back of his head. "Could I come in?"

Quentin nodded, before turning around. Ash followed him, shutting the door behind him. Quentin spoke again. "Shoes by the door please, my wife's strict about dragging footprints in here. Speaking of which-" He turned his attention in a seemingly random direction. "Honey, we have guests!" He suddenly blinked, taking a quick look at both Ash and Pikachu again. "Oh damn." He turned, a new vigour in his step as he ran off, yelling, "I'm sorry!"

"What for-"

Quentin had already vanished before Ash could finish, shutting himself in the nearest room. Ash suddenly couldn't shake the image of Quentin sitting against the door, hands over his ears, trying desperately to ignore something he'd rather pretend didn't exist. Ash didn't get it, what could be that horrifying-?

Oh Arceus. Now he knew.

**That.**

That foreboding sense of fear. The sudden chill running down his spine. The suddenly quiver which ran through him. He knew this, he knew what it meant, he'd felt it more than a thousand times. From the time he was ten, he could recognize this better than his own face.

He was in danger.

He backed away, but he found only the door. He and Pikachu shook in fear. There was no out, no escape. It was too late to react. The threat swept upon them before they could even scream, hands outstretched, each one appearing so much like a claw to them. They got closer and closer, and soon both Ash and Pikachu could see their nails in perfect detail, and grasp their shared fate in perfect detail.

They were doomed.

"CUUUUUUUUUUTE!"

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End of Chapter

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Author's Notes:

-sigh- I do so love to kick Ash while he's down now don't I? Actually, it was me that knocked him down to begin with now I think about it. I'm a world-class prick. Now if only that was a paying job...(pictures self on a throne made of money)

You all know one thing that's coming, but it's what you don't that's worth sticking around for. Now begins this story's one named arc: The Grandmasters

Misty Slapping Ash: For those who don't know (probably none of you, but just in case), in the original Japanese version, Misty did slap Ash when she first met him (if you look closely at the dub scene you can note her right hand's position) It's a potent piece of scene (to me anyway, but I tend to over-think things a lot), but alas 4kids decided to get rid of it. (they pushed Pokeshipping more than the fanbase sometimes and such a clip would practically be blasphemy)

Fortunately the powers of FanFiction permit me to correct such gross errors.

About the Johto Champion:

I know that in the games Johto had no Champion of its own (or even it's own elite four), and in the animé I don't think it's been clarified in any real way if there is one or not. Well if it has, and the answer is "no" I'm saying "Screw the cannon" on this one. (you can gasp in horror now) Some of my fondest childhood memories are playing Pokémon Gold, so not to give Johto it's **own** Champion is just a load of grade A BS.

Flame if you will, but I'm doing a great game justice. End of story.


	10. The Predecessor

Authors Notes:

Merry Christmas Everyone! (or Happy Holidays if you celebrate something else)

This is my present to you: The first part of the Grandmaster's arc.

Well you got only glimpses of it thus far, now it's time for the full portrait. It's time to see deeper into the changes Ash had undergone over the two years. Fair to warn you, Ash is gonna get rather OOC from here on in (more than he has already), but don't worry, it's for a good cause (you'll see!).

I'm guessing you'll either love it or hate it. Well that sums up my works I guess. People either fall head over heels for it or campaign to have me banned from writing.

Enjoy! (or, don't)

**Contest at the end of the chapter! Check it out! Cash prizes!**

**Update:** Feb 9th, 2013.

Realized I didn't put a description of a certain Pokémon coming forth from his Pokéball, how embarrassing.

Fixed.

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Ash had a very small number of things on his list of things he would never, ever go through again. Oddly, all of his near-death experiences were not included on this list. No, his list was oddly uninteresting, when you consider some of the of things Ash had done in his short life: Save the world (memory of which was erased), save the world, save the world (well a town, but it would have meant the world eventually), save the passage of time, save a city, the list goes on but the pattern is much the same.

Ash's "never again" list consisted of more mundane things. Including:

Trust a Map.

Sneak carrots into Misty's food.

Sneak peppers into Misty's food.

Sneak carrots **and** peppers into Misty's food.

Ask Brock to explain how girls think.

Take May's food. (especially if it was Noodles)

Ask Max for a "simple" or "short" explanation on anything.

Walk in on Dawn if she wasn't finished doing her hair.

Today his "never again" list had a new entry. Currently, Ash had not yet been foolish enough to let a pack of the more deranged fans catch him, but he had a damn good idea what it'd be like now. Well, actually he _hoped_ that was as bad as it would get. He'd dare not imagine worse...

Oh dear Arceus he was imagining worse!

Ash thrust the mug of tea he was holding to his mouth, and in seconds he'd downed in the entire thing. It was strong, good. Now if only he had something stronger-wait, scratch that, he wasn't going down **that** road again. He removed the mug from his mouth, and lightly scratched the birthmark under his left eye, trying to restore normal feeling back to it. On the floor, Pikachu was helping himself to a plate of Pokemon food, occasionally doing the same for his cheeks.

Across from him Quentin gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Sorry about that, Ash. But when my wife sees something 'cute' nothing can stop her. Not even I'm stupid enough to try." He took a sip of his own tea. "Anymore anyway."

"Smear..." Across from Pikachu a Smeargle was nodding in agreement, its black-tipped tail shifting in the air slightly.

Quentin turned his attention to a corner of the room, his eyes on a few photographs where resided there. "You should have seen her when my son was born. The only time I could hold him was when she fell asleep."

Ash looked too, noting a boy who was little older than himself, standing in the field that was just outside the house next to a Zangoose. Both were flashing a peace sign at the camera. "Will I end up facing him one day?"

Quentin shook his head. "I doubt it. He doesn't want to be Grandmaster. He's set his goals a little lower. He wants to join the Johto Elite Four, and prove the strength of normal-type Pokemon." Still looking at the picture he smiled, a small smile, though there was something Ash could not identify in his eyes. "I like to think I helped inspire that idea. Speaking of ideas." He turned back to Ash. "What brings you here?"

Ash placed his empty mug down on the table, quiet for a moment. "I don't know where to begin."

"From the top is normally a good bet."

He sighed. "Everything's...changed." It was a handful of seconds before he continued. "Everywhere I go I seem to be all people talk about. Everyone's obsessed with me." He looked up, his eyes nearly pleading. "I don't know what I'm supposed to _do_, Quentin."

Quentin smiled. "Ah the early days. Brings back memories." His smile weaned slightly, like a parent about to tell their child a sad truth. "Truth is, Ash, things really have changed for you, and they won't change back either. You are going to be a fixation for the world for a long time to come. You've met the Champions, you should have asked them, they have the same problem in their homelands. I take it you've been hounded by cameras already?" Ash nodded. "And?"

Ash shrugged. "I've just been setting my Pokémon on them."

Quentin's jaw slacked and his eyes suddenly appeared bigger, clearly not expecting _that_ as an answer. He soon sighed. "Wish I could say that's the _worst_ method I've ever heard of." Seeing Ash's questioning look he continued. "My predecessor used to demand battles. If they fought well, the news crews got interviews."

Now it Ash's turn to look shocked, in sheer awe. _That woman was a freaking __**genius**__!_

Quentin didn't notice, and just proceeded onwards. "In all honesty, Ash. It's not hard to deal with it all. Sometimes you'll have to sign autographs, a lot of them of that. My advice with the more..._enthusiastic_ fans is you just run. You can spar with fans on occasion, that's always a nice gesture, and it's fun. You'll have to make appearances in public now and then, and you'll be invited to various events-most of which are optional." Ash's open mouth closed. "Now, the press. You're going the wrong about dealing with them."

Ash nodded, uncertainly. He figured as much. "So what do I do?"

He shook his head slightly. "They're really like a pack of Houndoom sometimes." He shrugged. "So feed 'em." Ash looked horrified for just a second, before grasping Quentin wasn't talking about feeding in the way you'd feed a literal pack of Houndoom. "The world just wants to know a bit about you, so let them. Just tell them a little. Let them know what you like, what you think about things, and share some of your..." He left the sentence hanging for a moment, before briefly closing his mouth and speaking again. "Wisdom with them." Ash didn't respond, and he continued. "It gets better over time, trust me."

That was not what Ash wanted to hear. "I want..." He took a breath. "To just be another nobody again."

Quentin's words were sharper than knives. "Impossible." His voice was stern, but he at least smiling. "_You_ are a marked man, Ash. Even if you retired tomorrow you'd have no chance of going back to whatever was your former life. You're the youngest Grandmaster in the title's history, by far. Exceptional men like you don't get to hide easily. If you even get to hide at all." He leaned forward. "You're Grandmaster now, and that comes with responsibilities."

Ash's head snapped up. Responsibilities? "What do you mean, responsibilities?"

Quentin actually looked surprised. "Ash? What do you know of the history of the Grandmasters?"

"Umm...you were the last one before me? Oh, and her before you."

Quentin blinked, before he leaned back again, gripping the bridge of his nose with a finger and thumb, while emitting an annoyed sigh. After a few seconds he removed his hand and decided to explain.

"The title 'Grandmaster' was founded a long time ago. At a time when the Pokémon League was we know it was young, or to put it another way, it didn't properly exist at all. It was just a series of random, scarcely organized battles in random places, with all trainers aiming to prove themselves the best. It was unrefined, unstructured, and in a time when the bonds between nations were not as strong as they have become today."

Quentin took a deep gulp of his tea.

"However, even back then, there were those who were clearly stronger than most, whose strength clearly put them above the rest, but one among them, he was stronger still. And, he was wise. He came to an understanding about power, and the roles of the strong, one of which he shared with the others. The Pokémon League as we know it was founded then. One unified world league, which any nation could join. Four nations did at first, and later the Unova region did too. Each nation would form their own segment of the league, and each would train their own Champion. Their High Master, who would stand as the best, the pride of that nation. Then above them, the one who all trainers would gaze up towards. The Grandmaster, the strongest in the world, who would unify the Champions, and in a sense the nations themselves."

"The role of a Champion is to be a symbol for _their_ nation, something their people can look up to. The Grandmaster's role is someone that _everyone_ can look up to, regardless of where they are from. Now Ash. When the world looks up, they see you." He grinned. "The role of Grandmaster to trainers is to what good Kings once were to peoples. You are the King now."

Ash nearly jumped out of his seat, almost. "King!?" Memories of certain King that managed to gain control of his body crept into the front of his mind. "So what? I'm supposed to lord my power over everyone, saying 'I'm better than you now bow or you'll suffer' or something?"

Quentin closed his eyes, slowly shaking his head. "No Ash, that is not the role of a King." His eyes opened, and his eyes seemed somehow darker. "_That_ role is closer those who dared to call themselves a God." Ash had a sudden feeling this topic had taken a heavier turn than he could have expected. "A God's role is to stand at the top, demanding those below serve him and show worship, as well as meet any other demands he gives, or face his wrath."

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue seemed to be failing. Wrath...that word stuck out his mind. Why did it? Had he been showing wrath? With a near silent gasp, he realized...

He thought back to recent battles.

Harrison. He'd ordered Charizard to blast his Blaziken at point-blank range. Houndoom he'd had beaten down. Weavile he'd had reduced to mere target practice. He felt no regret as he had his opponent's Pokémon thrashed, bashed, and burned. He remembered why he felt no remorse...

_They should have been stronger._

That boy, Trip. He'd made a laughing stock of him, and his Serperior. It was a match Ash _knew_ was unfairly imbalanced from the start, and he'd shown no mercy to either.

_He dared to insult Ash's homeland, and to look down upon him._

Ash was briefly, stunned by what he'd realized. For whatever the reason happened to be at the time, he had shown wrath,_ e_ven...He looked down at his hand, the one that had grasped..._"__How are you so weak!?__"_

Wrath. When had this become his way? He closed his hand. When had this become him?

Qunetin continued. "A King's role, a _true_ Grandmaster's is the opposite. He must serve the people. To inspire them, to lead them, to give all them a marker by which they can better themselves. That was my role, my predecessor's role, and so and so forth through the select few of us who have held the title, since Masato Shigen himself."

Ash didn't need to think about this one. He had not been any kind of good Samaritan.

Quentin's tone suddenly changed. What was just a strong, yet gentle voice of wisdom turned cold. "So, Ash. What role have _you_ been playing?"

Ash did not answer. He didn't need to speak.

His once dark, yet warm eyes suddenly turned cold. No longer was one before him who was interested in assisting him. "Looks like I made a mistake." He frowned, his tone cast with just a slight sharp edge. "I should have been there to stop you."

Those words, by design or not, stuck in Ash's mind.

Could he? Could Quentin have stopped him? Ash thought about that. Had you asked him before the championship, Ash would have said "no way", no one was going to stop him. Now, on the other hand, sobered by the world he'd found himself in, he wasn't sure. Which raised another question, what if Quentin had stopped him? Had defeated him?

Well, even Ash knew what would have happened. If he'd lost then, he'd have just come back the next year, and kept doing so until he'd won, and the mess he was in now, well it'd have just been put off for another year at least. Possibly, in the process, somehow getting even worse. Sooner or later he'd be having this conflict. Maybe he'd have come to Quentin, maybe not. The benefit of experience had altered Ash's perception, given him a new look on things.

This brought him to a strange question: Did he really _want_ to be Grandmaster? Okay, it had its perks, and he was famous, just like he'd wanted to be way back when, and it had come with a very nice pay-cheque. Fame, fortune, and apparently more power to influence people than he could have ever imagined.

Money, fame, power. Was that all it was? Well aside from the responsibility Quentin had just dumped the knowledge of onto him; yes. He was in charge of inspiring people, of being the one on top, of being the one who all who would call them self a Pokémon trainer would look to as an example. He was...Quentin had presented two words which could sum it up nicely. This all made Ash face one little question: Did he really _want_ this title?

He was no longer sure, and if that was the case..."Quentin." Ash waited for a second, carefully searching the man's eyes. "If you could have it, would you want the title back?"

"Pi?!" Pikachu shot up, jumping up next to Ash and prepared to speak, but Ash only raised a hand, quieting him.

Quentin met Ash's stare with a gaze of stone. "What are you getting at?"

"I mean if you could take the title from me, would you?"

Quentin leaned back again, briefly averting his gaze upwards with a strong exhale. "Looks like I may have to. I can't leave the title with you." He lowered his head to meet Ash's gaze again. "But I'll need to wait until next year."

"No you wont."

"Pi?"

"Hm?"

Ash's knuckles cracked as his fists clenched. "Challenge me. Right now." Quentin opened his mouth to protest, but Ash was too quick. "I know I'm supposed to wait for the championship. But since I'm the current, and you're the last Grandmaster. Well, I think we could get the League to let you have it if you managed to beat me. So if you want the title back, challenge me."

A long silence fell after those words. Pikachu's head darted to look at Ash, he was utterly serious. The Smeargle Pikachu had been sitting with slowly turned his head to gaze upon Quentin, who was meeting Ash's gaze with a pensive look. For a moment, that was all there was, silence, and a gaze that would not be broken.

Quentin broke only the silence.

"Grandmaster Ash Ketchum. I challenge you for the title of Grandmaster."

Ash smiled. "I accept." He rose to his feet. "Now. I'll need to go to a Pokémon Center and get my Pokémon-"

He felt a sudden weight on his leg. "Ka chu pi." _No you won't._

"Huh?"

"Pika pi chu ka." _Look in your bag._

Ash picked up his bag, which he'd left lying at his feet, opening up the pocket Pikachu pointed out. He reached in, pulling out all of its contents with a single hand.

Five Pokéballs. He blinked, five? He took close look at the ball he knew was Charizards before turning to Pikachu. "Charizard?"

"Pi kachu pipi kakachu. Pi kachu pikachu chu pika chuchu." _He followed us from a distance, I put him in when you were sleeping._

Ash blinked, before his eyebrow shot up. "You knew this would happen?"

Pikachu grinned. "Pika kachu pi chu ka ka pikachu pikapika pika chupika kaka?" _Since when do you pass up an opportunity for a good battle?_

Ash smiled, laughing briefly while nodding. That was true. So, all of his team were right here..."Looks like I'm ready, Quentin."

Quentin nodded, rising to his feet. He walked over to a chest of draws on one side of the room, opening it and removing something from it. "Smeargle." Smeargle quickly approached him. He handed him a belt, which was laden with Pokéballs. "Gather the team." Smeargle nodded, before he rushed right out of the room. Quentin walked to the door, opening it before suddenly yelling.

"Mariah, I need to borrow Alakaza-AH!" A flash of white and an Alakazam was in front of him. "Will you _stop_ doing that? I almost lost a hand last time!" He sighed, having the appearance of one who realized his yelling would get him nowhere. "I need a favour."

"Ala?"

"Just read my mind, you'll see." The Alakazam blinked, before its eyes glowed blue for a moment. Its eyes returned to normal before it nodded. "Thanks." He turned to Ash. "Go do whatever you want, Ash. Alakazam will come and collect you when me and my team are ready." With that he left the room, to do what Ash did not care enough to guess. Alakzam walked off as well, in another direction.

Ash too walked off, putting on his shoes and walked out of the front door. He walked a distance from the house, to a small area which was wide enough to-"Everyone, come on out!" He threw all five balls at once, and like Pikachu had said, Charizard was among them. The entire time, _his_ entire team was here. He smiled. "Alright, everyone. You all know why you're here, right?"

The reactions were various, some vigorous, others more reserved, but the meaning was clear. He took a breath, his smile fading. "I won't lie to any of you, I'm not...I'm not liking this." He was quiet for a moment. "Being Grandmaster and all. It's not what I imagined, and it comes with a lot of things...I don't really want. Quentin has challenged me for the right to the title, I accepted. And if he wins it..." He shrugged. "I'm not gonna lose sleep over it."

Their looks were briefly stricken, before they seemed to be able to find their ability to protest, but not before Ash spoke once more.

"BUT! This is still a battle, against our most powerful opponent yet. We can't hold back." He turned his eyes on Feraligatr and Charizard. "This isn't like the Indigo Conference, we're not fighting someone below our level, we're going up against the last Grandmaster. We can't hold anything back."

They nodded, and the rest of the team did too.

Ash sighed. "I know we all fought to be the best, and this is...well, it's kinda spitting on that. But the way I see it, we won it all already. We got to the top, we did do what we set out to." He smiled, softly. "I don't mind what happens now. I just want to have one amazing battle." He looked once at each of his strongest Pokémon. "Now who's with me?"

They roared, growled, jumped, nodded and just kinda...started to doze off. They were with him, no matter what. Ash raised four of the balls, Pikachu holding the fifth. "Thanks, everyone." Four red lights from him, and one from Pikachu put the Pokémon back in their containers, which were quickly placed on Ash's belt. With that done Ash turned to Pikachu.

"Pikachu, I know you wanted me to be the best more than anyone. "Pikachu slowly nodded. "But let's be honest..." He sighed, looking down. "How screwed up am I now?" Pikachu was silent, but he needn't have said anything. "Exactly. Losing this title, may actually do me some good. Maybe not. All I know it's not making things better, so I don't care if I lose it or not, but that doesn't mean I _want_ to lose this battle." He turned back, and both were smiling. "So how about it? Everything we got?"

Pikachu nodded. "Pikachu pi pika." _Everything we got._

"Then we win either way."

With that, nothing more needed be said, and both of them simple chose to gaze out into the distance, looking into the forest below the raised stretch of land which he was upon. He could remember so many times he'd wandered through forests, so many of his travels seemed to take him through them. No region of the world would be complete without a few forests to Ash, he was just too used to them. He remained there a while, him and Pikachu in a comfortable silence as they gazed out into the wide forest.

The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching them, those of Alakazam. Ash moved to meet the psychic Pokémon, and Alakzam extended an arm, silently asking it be grasped. Ash complied, and in seconds everything was a mess of colors before it was completely white then suddenly.

They were somewhere else. Ash blinked a few times, that was very weird. He looked around, it was a lot cooler here, and all he could make out was the greyish brown color of rock. A heavy breeze briefly passed by. Alakazam released his arm from Ash's grip before he started to glow.

Alakazm was gone in a flash, leaving Ash and Pikachu upon...where were they exactly? He briefly looked around, he guessed he was on a mountain somewhere. Behind him was one of its peaks, which looked like part of, a claw maybe? He wasn't sure, the second peak is what he almost stood upon. He was near the base of it, on a perfectly flat square surface. This platform could have only have been made manually, and that conclusion was supported when Ash looked ahead.

The peak before him had an entrance that could have only been carved into it. A simple, nearly oval-shaped hole. Ash could make out something inside, and he decided to go ahead. He entered the peak, without fear or concern, he had a feeling what was beyond this entrance.

He was right. It was huge, rectangular, and even though there was no paint, he knew exactly what this was. He walked the path to what was his side of this construct, looking briefly at the side of the path he was walking on. It was quite a drop, easily enough to break the legs (or more) of anyone stupid enough to try jumping. At least it would have been were it not for the water which rest, still and clear, reflecting the light from above.

Ash looked up. This peak had been opened up at the ceiling. In fact there was no ceiling to this place now, just a huge, circular hole which would have been impossible to notice from the platform Ash had been standing on outside. Ash looked briefly around the circumference, he was right, the peaks were definitely claw-like in shape. The inside of this peak, it couldn't have formed naturally, and given what it was, and who had brought him here it must have been Quentin that made it.

This was a battlefield.

Ash took a look at the other entrance, which was opposite the one he'd come through, and someone was just walking through it. Ash felt a strange sense of excitement as the figure walked in. He'd changed his clothing, donning a get-up Ash could recognize perfectly.

Quentin's face was partly hidden, owing to the brown Fedora he wore with his head slightly bowed. His hands were at his side, in his pockets. In the pockets of the trench coat he now wore. The coat was a slightly darker shade of brown than his fedora, and five black buttons kept the trench coat 'closed'. Ash didn't know of this was regular for coats or not, but he knew why it was exactly five. Below the buttons the fabric was free to separate, as not to impede his legs, despite the fact the length of the coat went to just below his knees. Quentin wore black pants and black shoes.

Quentin spoke as walked. "Welcome, Ash. This is my personal battleground." He stopped walking. "We're far out of reach of anyone else here. No audience, no cameras." He raised his head to meet Ash's eyes, smiling. "Just us. We battle by Championships rules."

Ash only nodded.

Quentin slowly, and deliberately removed his hands from his pockets. "I warn you, Ash. I may have retired, but I continued training. I had to ensure my team was strong enough, in case someone..._unworthy_ ever took the title." His smile weaned slightly, appearing derisive rather than joyful. He knew his words had been understood. "Now, Ash. Are you ready?"

He grinned. "Yeah."

He was in for the battle of his life, and he could barely contain his excitement, actually he couldn't contain it at all. His hand made it's way as soon as the world left his mouth.

The base of Quentin's coat was shifted as Quentin's knees arced slightly, his arm reaching for his first Pokéball. As Quentin's hand found his first, so did Ash's.

They tossed their Pokéballs forth.

"Scrafty, I choose you!"

Scrafty emerged with a war-cry of its own name, his droopy eyelids combined with its expression giving it an almost sinister look. He pulled up his 'pants' sightly, as his tail waved around, briefly scraping the ground. Now where was his opponent?

"Nidoking, prepare for battle!"

The ball burst open in mid-air, and in a flash of white light its Pokémon came forth. A bright-blue skinned Nidoking pulled back his head and roared, flexing his strong arms as he prepared himself for the upcoming battle.

Ash had seen Nidoking's too many times in his life to be particularity surprised by facing one, but facing _this_ one was enough to get Ash at maximum attention. This beast, Ash had seen Quentin open countless matches with it. He'd also ended a number of those matches with it. Nidoking roared, glaring upon his opponent.

Scrafty grinned, punching a fist to an open palm before leering. His opponent was a big one, awesome. They were _always_ fun to take down, and the fight to that end was more than half the fun. Okay, it was all of the fun, and this fight would definitely be fun.

Neither Pokémon moved, neither trainer gave an order. Both stood there, under the light of the sun above.

It suddenly became darker, a cloud was passing overhead, briefly blocking the rays of the light, soon the signal they were waiting for would happen.

Ash was smiling. Quentin was smiling. Scrafty cracked his knuckles. Nidoking lightly tapped the ground with his tail. Still they waited, waited for the shade to pass. Nidoking and Scrafty in the bounds of the arena, Ash and Quentin at the edges of their walkways.

Waiting.

Waiting..

Waiting...

Waiting in the shade. Waiting until they could finally see-

_Light._

"Nidoking! Brick Break!"

"Hi Jump Kick, Scrafty!"

Nidoking pulled up his right arm, bringing it down with immense force as Scrafty's right leg flew up to meet it, along with Scrafty himself. Forearm met foot in a mighty shock-wave of wind, each perfectly still for a brief moment-before Scrafty suddenly kicked with his other leg, jumping to the ground and back-flipping away. Nidoking lowered his arm, and both Pokemon growled as they once more stared each-other down.

"_He matched Nidoking's Brick Break."_

"_He blocked Scrafty's Hi Jump Kick."_

Ash and Quentin's next thoughts were unknowingly mirrored. "_He's strong."_

Neither could really say they were surprised, yet being so used to facing those who could not fully match the power of their Pokémon, it took a moment to properly grasp the situation.

That moment was over. "Nidoking, Earth Power!" It happened so fast, Nidoking instantly started glowing gold and thrust his right arm into the ground, and a path of gold cracks made their way across the ground to Scrafty.

"Jump up high, Scrafty!" Scrafty kicked hard against the ground, evading the cracks and the glow they emitted. He leered down at his foe before-"Focus Blast!" Scrafty raised his hands above his head, forming a blue sphere in his hands. It grew, larger than his hands, then his head, then larger than his entire body.

Quentin didn't hesitate. "Stone Edge!"

Nidoking ripped his arm from the ground, dozens of blue rings briefly appeared, before they instantly turned white and became stones surrounding his arm. He thrust his arm at the oncoming sphere, all the stones flying at it at once.

Scrafty threw his gigantic attack, quickly falling back to the ground.

The two attacks made contact. Rock shards shot in every direction, blasting the walls like a barrage of bullets. They shot at the Pokémon, Scrafty evading with a series of flips and Nidoking simply taking the blows, blocking his face with the side of his arm. Scrafty's evasion came at a price, through not to him. The shards made their way towards Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu saw them coming, and quickly ducked.

Ash didn't. He remained completely still, the shards simply passing him. He hadn't blinked or flinched, his eyes on the battle before him. Pikachu got back to his feet, dusting himself off. He briefly glanced at his side, Ash seemed fine, nothing to worry about.

-drip, drip- Pikachu's ears twitched, and he looked down next to him. Something was dripping on the ground. He gazed up, quickly locating the source quickly. He gasped. There it was, just above his right cheek. Pikachu wasn't sure if Ash had even noticed.

"Pikapi."

Ash blinked, slowly raising his right hand. He gently placed it over his cheek, before pulling it away and looking at it. His glove was wet with blood, and for a moment he just simply looked at it.

"This...is it." He smiled. Slowly he clasped his hand, the warm feeling seeping into his gloves even deeper than before. He let his arm fall to his side, his smile joined by teeth as it became a wild grin. For a moment his eyes flared, Pikachu knew that look, that wild, possessed look. Nothing would stop this battle now.

_Nothing._

Ash's voice rebounded off every wall. "Scrafty!" The hoodlum dusted himself off, before grinning again.

Across from Scrafty, Nidoking lowered his arm, seemingly completely unaffected by the barrage he'd just taken, even as the walls and ground of the battlefield were laden with cracks.

Ash laughed. This was a true battle! This was true pressure! Ash could feel his blood pumping, almost like a drum beat. The air was ignited with power. His breath, rhythmic and strong. His body seized by the thrill. It felt that at any second his bones could crack from the strain!

_This is what he lived for!_

All he'd been worrying about. Lost friends, his place in the world, his role in life...

_It was all so stupid!_

To Hell with it! To Hell with it all! To the deepest depths of that fiery pit with every stupid petty little thing he'd been worrying about! This was everything that mattered, right here! This was life! A true life! A pure one! Things like time, distance, bonds, they meant nothing here! Nothing in the heat, in the embrace of battle! He needed no such things with a worthy opponent!

All he needed do was meet them! He never needed to feel sorry, he never would feel unwanted, he would never hold regret, and even if he were foolish enough to try it, he'd never be able to forsake it! A worthy opponent could understand him in a way no one else could, and for one moment, one all too brief, but magnificent moment they could declare themselves unto the world, unto the universe itself!

For one moment they could truly declare: "I AM ALIVE!"

For now Ash truly was, he was truly alive, body and _soul_.

"Scrafty, move in!" Scrafty leap forward, his form nearly gliding across the ground with the force of his steps. He pulled his fists back.

Quentin blinked. "Iron Tail."

"Feint Attack!"

Nidoking's tail swept out, now briefly made of metal, but there was nothing to hit. Scrafty vanished in a blur before appearing in the air behind Nidoking's back, he kicked the back of his foes head, jumping into the air. "Now try Focus Punch!" Scrafty pulled his right hand back, it started glowing right away as he made his descent.

"Thunderpunch, Nidoking." Nidoking turned around as fast he was able, throwing his right arm upward as it crackled with electricity. Scrafty sailed through the air, aiming his punch to meet Nidoking's.

They met, there was a brief flash of light before it suddenly passed. When it cleared Nidoking was revealed to still be standing, the ground around him emitting a cloud of dust. His arm was still in the air, though without any power now.

Scrafty was sailing through the air, getting closer to the ground rapidly. He slammed his feet into the ground with immense force. Scrafty skid across the ground, reaching the edge of the arena before actually slipping off it. He grabbed the edge, quickly forcing himself back up with an annoyed grunt. His body briefly crackled with electricity, before he shook his head.

Nidoking clenched and unclenched his claw, his face in discomfort, before he too simply shrugged off the discomfort.

The smoke from their brief clash cleared, showing a dent around where Nidoking stood, and a trail in the ground where Scrafty had travelled across it.

"I am here!"

This is how Ash made his mark, how people like him made their mark. Their strengths, their power, their skill in training their Pokémon, and the results of them. This is how they showed themselves before all reality. The land itself would hold the markings that proved that they existed.

Both Pokémon stared each other down. Waiting for more orders to be given.

"I am home!"

He could be lost on the other side of the world...yet a true battle would always be home to him. He wandered for years, he could wander a lifetime, for those fleeting moments when he found his home.

When he found where he _belonged_.

Quentin chose not to waste an opportunity. "Flamethrower!" Nidoking opened his mouth, and with it came a river of fire. Scrafty only leered. Ash would give him an order, he knew it.

"Focus Blast again! Right into the fire!" Scrafty quickly formed another sphere, placing it in front of him before it shot off like a cannon. The ball met the fire, breaking it like a boulder against water. A shocked Nidoking could only watch as it got closer to him.

Quentin on the other hand; "Guard up, Nidoking!" Nidoking ceased breathing fire, crossing his arms across his face. The ball collided, enveloping him in an explosion. Quickly all that could be seen was a cloud of dust.

Ash's mouth was nearly agape as his breathing became more rapid. This was, was almost too much! His heart, such a violent beat. If he didn't calm down it might break right out of his chest. That couldn't happen, not now! Later, fine, but it couldn't happen _now_! He had to control his heartbeat!

His left hand reached up...

Pikachu was watching the smoke pillar that had enveloped Nidoking, that would likely take a minute or so to pass. He smiled. Though young, Scrafty was not to be underestimated. With a surprised blink Pikachu realized, this was his first battle that he started as a Scrafty. He was coping rather well with his evolution, though Pikachu knew that had something to do with Scrafty constantly wanting to spar with his team members. Pikachu shook himself from his thoughts. Why wasn't Ash using this moment to his advantage? He turned to look at-

Ash was frozen, his mouth agape, and eyes wide in shock. Pikachu's eyes darted around, what was wrong with Ash. He noticed Ash's arm, and quickly located where its hand was.

His heart.

Ash's mouth finally shut slightly, he took a breath, a gasping, choked breath, and another. His breath could only emerge strained, choked, and gasping. He tried, he did, to try and stop his reaction, but everything...was getting fuzzy. He couldn't quite see sense anything right now. It was all getting hazy.

He had to move his mind, to anything. He couldn't quite see before him, so he aimed for anything he could _feel_. He tried to focus on the warm sensation on the side of his face. It was a mark of the battle. That's what he had to focus on. The battle, the battle had to-. His heart beat, and it suddenly felt like it had slammed into a wall. He gave a choked gasp. No, he couldn't lose his focus! The battle had to go on. The battle had to-

He felt something warm spill down the side of his face, into his wound before it continued onwards. He clutched his chest tighter. _"Misty!"_

His eyes shut. All he could see was her, and the pained look in her eyes as she spoke those words...

"_Maybe I wasn't his best friend after all."_

His heart clenched. That was wrong! She was wrong! He'd give anything to just be able to tell her she was wrong, but she'd never want to see him again now, she wouldn't come to him ever again. No one should after what he'd done.

So...why had she?

He remembered that moment in the locker room. He could remember every single detail. How she had somehow made everything okay. How happy he'd felt just holding her. Losing himself in the feeling of her touch, her scent, in just being there with her. Did she like it too? Did she like-

He felt his heart clench again. He remembered...she'd let him go.

She'd left, without saying a word. She'd left, and...

"_I HATE YOU!"_

He gave another choked breath. Somehow something set itself in his mind. Either she hated him, or she'd given up on him...there was no third option. Then that meant...that all that he had...

"_I HATE YOU!"_

"_Go away..."_

Ash opened his eyes, shooting up his other hand. "_Go away!"_

Ash violently pulled on the zip of his jacket. _"__I HATE YOU!__"_

He pulled his right arm out of the jacket, before finally removing his hand from his heart and pulling his left arm from it. Everything seemed somehow, emphasized. He could see the jacket in his hand, he could somehow sense the items it contained. Somehow, he could perfectly see every centimetre of distance it put between itself and him, and every extra one as it grew further and further away.

"_I HATE YOU!"_

"_GO AWAY!"_

He violently thrust his arm, before-"PIKAPI, KA!" _ASH, NO!_

It slipped through his fingers. The jacket was pushed from his hand. Pikachu ran to the edge. He could only watch, watch as Ash's jacket fell, flapping uselessly against the air current that marked its decent, further and further below. He could only watched as it fell into the waters below, the surface still as it simply remained there for a moment, the jacket's own weight submerging it second by second.

Then, it was gone. Pikachu could only gaze at the depths which had claimed Ash's jacket, and what it held.

"Pikachupi..." He looked down at the waters for a moment, before a droplet fell from him. He turned to Ash, and found he had collapsed, falling to all fours as he once again drew his breaths in a deep, slow rhythm. His hand was on his heart as he leaned on his right elbow. With one last deep breath he loosed his grip, his eyes slowly opening. The fingers of his empty hand scraped across the ground, his breathing finally calming. He looked back up, the underside of his right eye now red, which could now trail down the side of his nose. He rose up to his feet. "Scrafty!" He thrust out his bloodied glove. "We're not done yet!"

Scrafty raised both fists up in front of him. "Ty!" The smoke cleared, revealing Nidoking, through his appearance a little dirty from the blast, was more than capable of continuing this battle. He pointed to Scrafty's target. "Get him!" Ash's grin was still wild, the wound on his face still leaking, the essence in his hand still wet. His soul still seized by the thrill. His mind cleansed by a clarity he knew so well, yet it felt like eons since he'd left felt it last. Life...was so ridiculously complicated. Life was so full of woes, regrets, mistakes and uncertainties. So full of things he did not know how to fix. His friends, his life, _himself_. Where would he even begin repairing such things?

No, life was far too complicated.

_This_ was all so simple. It was all he had left to hold on to. All he had left was this battle, and it would be...

Scrafty charged forward, for another round, another strike, another chance for one to attempt dominating the other. One more verse in the poetry of battle. One more brush stroke on the canvas of conflict. One more entry into the tome of the title given to those who stood at the pinnacle of this ancient tradition of humans and Pokémon.

...and it would be _glorious_.

"I am not alone."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of Chapter

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Author's Notes:

Well I think I just about managed my promise of drama. Now how many of you saw **that** coming?

I gave you fair warning about OOCness. It really is for a good cause. So either get pissy and give on this fic now, or wait to see how it turns out.

Strap yourselves in folks, this is going to a **long** battle.

I know the build up to starting the match may have been a bit unpolished (may have some notable errors too, I'm rather tired as I write this note), but I wanted to get this chapter out for Christmas. Plus, well, I didn't want to spill all the plot details too soon. Worst case scenario I can just fix up this chapter later on.

Trivia: First chapter without any of my page breaks. (aside from the author's notes of course)

**CONTEST! (Okay, no cash prizes, but it got your attention didn't it?)**

In this chapter I dropped a number of lines about the history of the Grandmaster title. Now I wanna see how many of you were paying close attention. I have a question for you to try and answer.

I've dropped two hints which will help you figure out the answer. One was in chapter seven.

The biggest hint has literally been spelled out for you.

Now, here's the question I want answered: What is Ash now? I want that one specific detail.

First to post the answer I'm looking for in a review wins!

Note: You need to have an account to enter. I'll be getting in touch with the winner via PM.

**So what's the prize?**

You get to name a former Grandmaster, and it will be shown later in this fic. You may name a male or female Grandmaster, it's your choice. Pending my approval on the name. Don't take the piss please, and put some effort into your idea for a name.

(I don't require a name right away just so you know, you will have some time to think on it.)

The contest will remain open until either someone wins or I close it myself. If not won right away, it'll remain open at least until the end of this battle so don't feel too rushed, but remember others are (hopefully) competing too!

If no-one figures it out by next chapter, I'll _consider_ dropping another little hint, and if need be another after that, and so on and so forth until someone gets it/I lose patience and just close the contest.

If no-one wins then don't worry too much. The answer is going to be revealed in-story eventually anyway.

**Good luck, and once again; Merry Christmas!**

**Now go celebrate!**


	11. Clarity in Combat

Authors Notes: Now the clash of the Grandmasters really gets into full swing.

This'll be my first time really writing out a Pokémon battle. (I can't really count the little matches I've written and showed) Let's see how it goes.

**About delays**: (Expect them, but not always)

To make it easier on me, I'm writing this arc in a different way from the rest of the book. Whereas normally I wrote the story in chronological order, this arc I'm writing as I get ideas. Since it's mostly battling anyway (and I've divided the entire match across chapters) I can afford to jump from chapter to chapter in terms of writing order. A later chapter is already almost completely written with others having various scenes written already.

I cannot promise an update rate that has anything even resembling consistency, (like I've ever been any kind of consistent) but know I am working, and writing down ideas for the rest of the story still. Yet reality demands my attention far more than I'd like and I have to devote resources to keeping my life on track.

Note while I do write in a random order, I'm only posting chronologically. Sorry people, but if you're gonna tell a story you gotta do it right.

**Contest**: No winners yet, but I have some important details about it at the end of the chapter.

**About my underlined speech Text:** (You're going to see a lot of it in upcoming chapters.)

It's meant to put into words Ash otherwise could not express. (we all know expression's not his strong point) To take all that complex, screwed up jumble of feelings and quantify it. I could write long sentences describing his feelings depth (we all know how long I can go on), but I prefer to have it expressed through voice, picture his when you read them. I like the dramatic effect. Though I fear it may be lost on everyone but me. Story of my life; I can picture epic, but can't express it to save my ass.

Oh well, on with the story!

**Soundtrack**: (yes this arc has a soundtrack. Songs that inspire the chapters anyway.)

Raintime: Beat it

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Over a year ago..._

Ash and Pikachu sat alone upon a hill, Ash looking over his Unova badge case. Two slots had already been filled, and he was already on his way to getting his third. He figured he'd reached their destination by nightfall, but for now they was taking a break. Next to him a glass container, with an orange lid contained a Pokémon egg, which he currently wasn't paying attention to.

-clink- His head turned, watching for a second-clink-. He blinked, was the egg hatching? -clink, clink-

Ash removed the lid, pulling out the egg and placing it firmly upon the ground, a curious Pikachu standing close to the egg. Its thrashing only continued, until finally it started to glow.

With awe, both watched as the egg glowed only brighter and brighter before the light eventually faded, revealing "Scrg...gy?" The newborn looked mildly confused.

Ash certainly was. He dug into his pocket for his Pokédex, pulling it out to get some identification. As soon as he got the name he closed the Pokédex, not bothering to learn any more about his new Pokémon. "Hi Scraggy. I'm Ash, nice to meet you."

"Scraggy!" The newly-hatched Pokémon nodded.

"Pi!" _Hi! _Pikachu held out his hand, and in a further attempt to be friendly he closed his eyes. Big mistake. The new hatched Pokémon only gave Pikachu a leer before he pulled his head back and-

-WHAM!-

"KAAAAAA!" Pikachu gripped the front of his face.

Scraggy pulled back his head, shooting his glance in all directions as Ash tended to Pikachu ("Are you okay?", "KA!" _NO!_). The electric mouse Pokémon quickly got over the blow, and just in time to see the little hoodlum running off. "Pikapi!"

Ash's eyes followed Scraggy, seeing he was running towards a passing wild Pokemon Ash could not name. He could, however, guess what Scraggy was going to do. "Wait, Scraggy, don't!"

Scraggy leap from the ground, shooting head first towards his opponent.

"Scraaaaa-!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"-fty!"

Scrafty's face collided with Nidoking's, which forced the Poison Pin Pokémon back a step, before "SCRAF!" Still in mid-air, his foot collided with his target's face as well, another step. Scrafty fell to the ground.

"Dark Pulse, Scrafty!"

"Scraf!" He opened his mouth, a violet darkness forming before "Tyyyy!" The darkness emerged, in the form of countless spiralling rings, slamming into Nidoking's face like the last two attacks and exploding.

Another step back, and nothing more.

Scrafty growled.

Ash felt his body tremble from the sheer thrill. This was just what'd he'd expect from one of his predecessor's Pokémon, of Nidoking epically, Quentin tended to use him in most battles, even in the public appearances he'd make now and then (relating to duties Ash had spared no mind to), and it'd proven many times over it would never be easily defeated. Now Ash thought about it, two of his rivals had owned Nidokings, neither he'd ever faced. No matter, he didn't need to, it was easy to predict what would happen pretty quickly if _those_ Nidoking went up against _this_ one, even two on one. Most would be happy just to have knocked this behemoth off his feet, never mind actually defeating him.

Scrafty wasn't most.

Ash looked before him fondly. Yes, now this was a real battle. Interesting, how it had only been mere weeks since his last real fight, yet now it felt like it'd been an eternity since then. Fighting such...weak opponents, it was like being drenched in filth. No, such weakness could not compare to _this_. An opponent who could challenge him, could force him to fight, it was enough to make him forget everything.

It could wash his sins away.

He could feel the side of his face, alive with a dull, pulsing sting as his wound continued to leak, though less so than it had before. He didn't feel the need to address it, and it'd be to him, at this point, absolutely _insane_ to even consider stopping this battle.

"The more dangerous the battle, the better it is." Ash smiled.

Nidoking, even after those blows, under which most would have already crumbled into defeat, seemed barely affected. Now how to inflict some serious damage...

He could try and use the arena as a weapon, but how? Collapse the ceiling atop him? He looked up. No, it was mostly open sky, the peak was like a stone funnel in its way. It wouldn't work, not without endangering everyone inside and all Nidoking would really need to do to avoid the brunt of it was stand near the center of the battlefield. He looked at the edges of the battlefield. The water, he could have Nidoking pushed into it. However, he doubted that would really be that effective. All it'd really do is get Nidoking soaked, even from such heights. Even in such deep water...

He shook his head. He'd do this the old fashioned way: By force.

Scrafty so much preferred that method anyway.

Nidoking shook the ground as he affixed his stance. Quentin took a good look at his Pokémon, noting the lack of visible injury. "Is this all? I would have expected more." He turned his gaze on Ash. "Even from a false Grandmaster."

Now _that_ struck nerve, and not just Ash's. "You want more you got more!" That being said, facts had to be accepted. Nidoking had just taken a beaten and seemingly shrugged it off. A direct assault wasn't working very well. He could try distance, but Scrafty didn't have much of an arsenal for that kind of thing. He was more of a head-to-head (literally) kind of Pokémon.

They'd have to...improvise a little. "Scrafty, aim Dark Pulse at the ground in front of Nidoking!" Scrafty opened his mouth again, bringing forth a stream of violet rings, and their aim was true.

Both Nidoking and Quentin (who was only just behind his Pokémon) were briefly rendered blind and deaf to whatever lay beyond the scope of the attack, but they could still see and hear perfectly on their side.

"Charge forward Nidoking! If you see him use Flamethrower." Nidoking roared and charged, passing through the cloud without hesitation. Quentin expected to feel the temperature go up instantly, but nothing. He didn't have to wait long to ascertain why. The first blast settled, but that was just one problem gone...

Dust, over most the arena there was a cloud of it, and it only grew in density every few seconds as another blast sounded out. Clearly Quentin's order needed some adjustments. It was near impossible to see through the cloud. He listened, sometimes hearing a faint noise of what he guessed was movement. _"He's using Feint attack to move around. Almost no traceable noise that way. He must be as blind as we are."_ He took careful look at the height of the cloud. _"Maybe not."_ It came to just below Nidoking's head. Now he just had to devise a countermeasure-

"Drain Punch!" Nidoking glanced desperately all around him, but -PACK!- all he got for his trouble was a hit somewhere in his mid-section. "Again!" -PACK!- This time it was in the back, and Quentin saw the tell-tale flash of green.

"Nidoking, Jump!" Nidoking kicked from the ground with all of his might, which when pinned against his weight was left the clear victory. Nidoking rose high above the arena, the cloud and the entire battlefield itself. "Slam into the ground with your full force!" Nidoking's arms flexed, his claws pointed upwards as he fell, spreading his legs a she did so. -BOOM!- He landed, and around him the cloud dissipated, then the area beyond that, and beyond that, in seconds the entire arena had been cleared of dust by the shock wave, and three sets of eyes quickly turned to a single point. Scrafty had been exposed.

Scrafty blinked. "Ty, scra."

"Your little game is over, Ash. Nidoking, Thunderbolt." Nidoking's horn briefly glowed yellow, before electricity burst forth from it.

"Dodge it!" Scrafty ran, with impressive speed, the lighting always a step behind as he ran, ducked and dived away. The lightning quickly ceased coming. "Focus Blast!" Scrafty stopped, building a sphere in front of himself before it shot off like a cannon.

"Evade it." Nidoking shifted his body, just narrowly evading the blow. It passed him by, blasting into the wall beyond.

Light. A hole had been blown into the wall, on Quentin's 'corner' of the arena. Ash could see beyond, and just as there was another peak behind himself outside the arena, there was another behind Quentin. What was this place?

That would be a question for when Ash really cared, so not in the middle of the battle. Both Nidoking and Scrafty came to a stop, both awaiting orders as their trainers took a moment to consider the situation. They reached the same conclusion, at the same time, both unknowingly mirroring the thoughts of the other.

_Distance wasn't going to work._

New plans would need to be devised. Yet that would come in its own time.

Ash stood, his arms spread under the sky as he breathed deeply. "I really am home." He took one more breath, smiling. "So _this_ is what it's like when Grandmasters fight." Ash couldn't keep still, every part of him seemed to be moving in some way. "Wow. _Way_ better than it looked on video."

Quentin raised his hand, wiping dust from his shoulder, all with the air of disinterest. "There are no Grandmasters here, Ash. Just a retiree, and a faker."

_That_ got him to hold still. "I'm no fake, Quentin! I won fair and square!"

There it came again, that smile Ash was not so familiar with. That derisive, superior smile. "Not against _me_."

Those words could taken as a challenge, and Ash's grin meant he'd taken it as such. "Let's see if I can! Scrafty!" The hoodlum rushed forward."Use your speed and sizet! Evade him and beat him with Iron Tail! Use what Feraligatr and Sceptile taught you!"

"Ty!" Scrafty jumped, and a surprised Nidoking struck without order. He punched, but Scrafty grabbed the top of the fist coming at him, and quickly jumped towards his true target as his tail started to glow.

It became Iron, and he turned his body to deliver-PACK!- Nidoking was forced to look sideways, and his other arm swept in to sweep him out of the air. -PACK!- He jumped over it, before twirling in the air and-PACK, PACK!- He grabbed Nidoking's head, flipping himself and bringing the tail down one last time.

-PACK!- Nidoking gave way under the tail, his form leaning down.

He growled.

He shot back up, a shocked Scrafty being knocked off by the force of the blow. Before Scrafty could recover Nidoking grabbed his tail, tightly. Quentin smiled. "Word of caution, Ash. You are easy to provoke. Nidoking, throw him to the ground and use Sludge Wave."

The sides of Nidoking's mouth started to leak something foul-looking. With a mighty throw he tossed Scrafty across the arena, slamming him into the ground. Scrafty managed to turn around just in time...

Like a Hydro Pump the attack burst forth. A wave of a shade of violet that could only be called vile as it hit the ground, sweeping forward like a tidal wave. "Scrafty!" The tide rose above him. It fell.

Scrafty was gone.

All anyone could do was watch, watch as the tide finished its journey, most of it merely dissipating when it finally stopped, some falling beyond the ring, to be diluted to the point of erasure by the water below. Eventually it was all gone, and Ash's eyes briefly, franticly searched for something.

He found _something_. There _something_ was. A figure, curled up, its feet indented in the ground, but Ash needed to take a second glance to register what he was seeing.

While it was only logical that the figure could only have been Scrafty, the sight was well, odd. Scrafty had pulled up his 'pants' and put the remains of his time as a Scraggy over his head. Which, for all of its strangeness in appearance, seemed to be a highly effective defence. Scrafty was definitely one of Ash's stranger Pokémon.

Yet that defence had come at a cost. Nidoking was already right before him. "Crush him, Nidoking." His foot came down, right on top of Scrafty. "King-?" His leg raised up. "Nido-!"

"Scraaaaaaaaa!" The hooded Scrafty held both arms against Nidoking's foot, pushing up with all of his strength. _"Scrafty's strong but he can't hold out forever. Nidoking'll crush him under that-under! That's it!" _"Scrafty, use Dig to get out of there!"

He just blinked. "Scraf?" His face then suddenly lit up in realization, and he lowered his arms, Nidoking's foot baring down. Scrafty eventually stopped pushing with his hands, letting the foot come down on his back as his hands went to work.

Nidoking's foot quickly hit solid ground.

Scrafty quickly emerged elsewhere, taking his place a distance from his opponent.

Quickly Quentin chose to continue the assault. "Rock Climb."

Nidoking's feet were now glowing white, and he slammed his left foot into the ground hard. In mere blinks of an eye a glowing white crack had grown across the arena, connecting Scrafty and Nidoking. Before Scrafty had a chance to process what the hell was going on the ground literally shot up. "Scra?!" He stood firm, if confused as below him a hill was growing. Quentin didn't wait more than a second.

"Now ram him with Megahorn." Nidoking rushed forward with deceptive speed, and with amazing strength kicked into the hill, intending his foot within its wall before his second did the same, and so on it went, intending himself in the hill to run up its side, his immense strength being enough to not even slow him down. His horn glowed white and extended, its tip aimed for Scrafty. Ash had to think fast. He could not let that attack hit!

"Dark Wave! Aim for his feet!"

"_'Dark Wave'?"_

Scrafty's tail was briefly covered in darkness, before that black was shrouded in violet. Scrafty forcefully turned on the spot, swinging his tail in Nidoking's direction.

The darkness left his tail, spreading across the air like its name would imply, a wave of darkness. The wave reached and exploded at Nidoking's feet. While not strong enough to hurt his target, it did something far more useful. His footing gone, Nidoking fell through the air, and as soon as he started falling he forced his form to flip backwards in the air, aiming his feet at the quickly approaching ground.

He landed on his feet, and the instant he did the hill started to regress into the ground. "Jump Scrafty!" The Hoodlum nodded, kicking the ground with all of his power, launching himself from the peak. Scrafty was high in the air, almost close to escaping the tip of the ceiling of the arena, he clutched against the first part of the wall he could grab. The hill quickly finished its regression, and finally it was gone.

Quentin looked up. "Original attack huh?" Quentin smiled. "You're not the only one who has a few original tricks up his sleeve, Ash. Nidoking! Steam Bomb!"

Nidoking's tail raised itself, quickly shrouded with flowing water. He moved the tip to the side of him, the water flowing almost instantly to form a sphere. He opened his mouth, hitting the sphere with a blast of blue from his mouth.

It became ice.

He grasped the giant sphere with a single arm, raising it to the ceiling and delivering a mighty punch to it. The sphere shot off to the sky as Nidoking opened his mouth again, fire gathering within. With a roar the fire was released, taking the form of a symbol that took Ash way back, to his first battle with a Magmar...

"Scrafty! Move!" The Hoodlum let go, kicking himself off the ceiling.

"Too late."

The superheated blast met with the sphere, and it became clear it really was too late. Like a water balloon exploding, the ice became an explosion of steam, which enveloped Scrafty in a heartbeat. Ash shielded his face. Though the steam was high above, the heat of it could be felt even below. It was a handful of seconds before he could look to find-"Scrafty!"

He was falling, head first, headed right for the arena. "Scrafty!" Falling, only falling, still as a pond in the quietest night as he fell with force. "SCRAFTY!" His hand twitched, yet he did nothing to prevent his falling.

Did nothing, until the last second. "Scraf-!" His from flipped in the air. "-ty!" With a mighty slam his feet hit the ground, the area around him giving way under the pressure applied as Scrafty looked up, his form now laden with remnant moisture and various red patches.

"_He used fire blast to turn that sphere into steam to burn Scrafty? Whoh."_

He should have seen this coming, or something like it, but somehow this little detail had been hidden away from conscious thought. Quentin's unique talent.

Now Ash wouldn't say he was 'educated' in the matters of the workings of Pokémon attacks, despite having some considerable creations under his belt. If he was asked he'd just say, in whatever choice of words, that he had ideas and found ways to make them happen. Quentin on the other hand was very educated, and as Scrafty had just directly learned, he'd found a very useful and effective application for that knowledge.

Ash was in for the battle of his life.

He pointed at Nidoking. "Get him!" Seemingly unaffected by his wounds, Scrafty quickly rushed in.

As Scrafty came close to reaching him..."Brick Break, Nidoking."

The glowing fist quickly closed in. "Detect!" Scrafty's eyes started glowing blue, and with serene grace quite unbefitting of a thug, Scrafty expertly evaded the blow, and as if by some divine grace evading the shards of stone that rose up from the ground. "Foul Play!"

Scrafty jumped, pulling back his right fist, the backlash wind from the last attack seeming to wrap around it before darkness formed, Scrafty's fist was coated a shining black. The dark fist slammed into its targets' face. Knocking Nidoking's head upwards, knocking his body upwards. Knocking even his feet upwards, they left the ground for an instant, leaving Nidoking slightly airborne.

Then his feet simply...

...pressed back onto the ground.

Ash and Scrafty's faces formed mirroring looks of surprise. Scrafty _still_ hadn't knocked Nidoking down! What was it gonna take?!

Quentin seemed to sense Ash and Scrafty's shock, and his words were chosen quite deliberately. "The strongest you have ever faced are the Champions. But let me warn you, Ash..." Somehow his dark green eyes suddenly seemed to shine. "None of them match the likes of **me**! Nidoking! Let's show them the strength of a _true_ Grandmaster and his Pokémon!" Nidoking roared, pride heavy in his cry.

Scrafty's response was to knick against the ground, not unlike a Tauros ready for the charge. He prepared to kick again before he suddenly flinched, his body briefly glowing in two colors. Red coming from the patches on his body, and the one that shrouded his body...

Violet.

"_Scrafty's been poisoned. From punching Nidoking?"_ Only now did he notice the sheer number of red patches. _"And he's burned." _Ash didn't know if he should smile or shake in fear. Scrafty wouldn't even _think_ of backing down. The only way to stop him fighting was to knock him out or...well Ash wouldn't let it go _that_ far. He reached a hand for his belt.

"Ka." _"Don't."_

Ash stopped, and turned to Pikachu. "Scrafty can't keep this up."

Pikachu shook his head. "Pi kapi chu." _He can do it._ "Pika chu chu pi." _Just believe in him._

Ash's hand shook slightly, and he moved closer to his belt, yet his hand fell short of it. He raised his hand, formed into a fist, to the front of him. He had to show Scrafty he still believed. "Don't give up, Scrafty!"

Scrafty nodded, taking a stance. "Scraf!"

"Get him!"

He'd have to try another method, exploit a weakness. Nidoking was big, there was a way to use that to Scrafty's advantage, Ash was sure of it. Was there a way to knock such a big Pokémon off-balance-?

Wait, that was it! He waited for Scrafty to close in...

"Try Rock Climb!" As Nidoking's had before, Scrafty's feet started to glow white, and he slammed one into the ground, quickly forming a white crack. It would have reached Nidoking as well, had Quentin not given an order a fraction of a second after Ash.

"Earthquake." Nidoking slammed his fist into the ground, and the ground started to crack from the collapsing that was happening from under it. The white crack was shattered as the ground cracked further. "Shadow Claw." Nidoking raised his second claw, violet vapor forming around it in the shape of a more sinister claw. It swiped. Scrafty stepped back to avoid it, but his foot stepped on a crack, his other foot quickly found ground to compensate, but that brief laspe in balance was an opening, and Quentin wasted no time to exploiting it.

"Thunder Vice."

Nidoking's arm slammed into the ground, and before he could respond the ground seemed to rise up on either side of Scrafty, wedging him between two giant slates of stone. Nidoking's horn sparked yellow, then his body followed, and the air seemed to quake for just an instant before. "NIDO!"

"TYYYYYYYY!"

Scrafty couldn't move, he was trapped as the Thunder struck at his entire body, the two slates of earth only grasping him tighter. Nidoking's attack was unrelenting, cruel, and efficiently effective. Made more so by the remaining moisture on his body. The slates started to crack under the force of the attack, and Scrafty never stopped screaming. To Scrafty it was not just a scream. It was a war cry. When the attack came to its end Scrafty turned his sight on his foe, his droopy eyelids somehow given his eyes a gaze that would freeze the hearts of many.

Quentin was not among that many. "Superpower." Blue fire suddenly seemed to radiate from Nidoking, as he pulled his arm back, then slammed it into the trapped Scrafty, shattering his prison. Scrafty's form flew through the air, before arriving near Ash's feet with a slam.

A sudden burst gave birth to a giant cloud of dust.

When it cleared Ash looked down at Scrafty. He was laying face down, unmoving, electricity crackling all over his body. "Scrafty!" Ash reached for his belt again, dammit he'd let this fight go on too long. Scrafty was too young for this! Now he was-

"Tyy." Scrafty's fingers scraped across the ground. The second did the same. "Scraaa..." He pushed himself, his head looking to his opponent with rage building in his eyes. He flinched, violet and red briefly shining on his body but still he did not waver.

Ash felt a foreboding feeling creep down his spine..."Scrafty..." His hand fell back to his side. He knew Scrafty's actions were no façade.

He could still fight.

Ash would not stop him.

"Scra, scra, scra, scra, scra," His head tensely raised up and down. "Scra!" His head stopped, his eyelids shot up, no longer droopy as he began to generate a red glow. "SCRAAAAAAAAA!" The ground under him shattered, countless shards rising up around him. "TYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" They were shattered further, into nothingness as he turned his attention towards Nidoking.

He charged, his every step cracking the ground beneath. He reached Nidoking quickly, the Outrage shining even in his very eyes. Ash needed to press this advantage, and fast. Scrafty got furious sometimes, but this was the first he'd used Outrage. Clearly he'd learned a thing or two since evolving. It was true, Scrafty was young, but there was one fact about young Pokemon.

_They grew quickly._

"Hi Jump Kick!" Scrafty got just in front of Nidoking, breaking the ground under him as he kicked off from it with all the force he had, half of that force suddenly flexing upwards. Nidoking's head shot upwards, as did he, and his feet were knocked further off his feet this time, and though he did not fall, Ash grinned.

Scrafty's strength had shot through the roof!

The second Nidoking found his feet again, "Superpower once more, Nidoking!" Again Nidoking was ignited blue, and his fist shot down like a bullet.

"Evade and slip under him!" Scrafty dived, the punch just barely missing him as it intended itself in the ground. He flipped his body to land on his back and skid across the ground. Without needing order to do so Scrafty kicked out, smashing into the back of both of Nidoking's legs, _almost_ knocking him to his knees. "Aim higher!" Scrafty jumped, raising his leg and bringing it down on the back of his target's head just as he freed himself. "Focus Punch, Scrafty!" Using only the strength of his leg, Scrafty flipped forward over Nidoking's head, and upside down he stared his target in the eye.

"Scraf-" A red/white glowing punch shot forward. "TY!"

Nidoking was shot back, skidding across the ground quickly as he flinched. Even so he would not fall, and quickly his eyes opened again, his tail quickly brought him to a stop. Yet even his strength only just kept him from toppling over his master.

Scrafty too was sent back by the force of the blow, flipping through the air with decidedly un-Scrafty-like grace. Scrafty landed, his back turned to Nidoking, but he was off balance. Quentin nodded. _"There."_ He raised an arm, casting a finger at Scrafty. "Hyper Beam!"

"Nido-!" Nidoking's mouth fell open, as sphere of light rapidly grew inside, growing larger and larger-"KING!"

The Hyper Beam was born, making its way across the arena in a large stream of pure power, the largest Ash had ever seen from this attack. It's target; Scrafty. Ash's mouth opened...

Quentin could no longer see his opponent side of the battleground, the light from the powerful Hyper Beam covering it completely. He just waited, a few seconds before the light became as an inferno of light. The force of the blow was vicious, Quentin's trench coat billowing wildly in the backlash of the attack. He merely watched, as the beam expressed its wrath, one thing clear in his mind.

"_He won't get up after a blast like that."_

The explosion of light was still ongoing, yet as it faded certain things could be made out. The ground, lose stones, a shadow. Quentin's eyes followed the shadow, finding the figure which cast it. The form was still standing, even as the residual light of the Hyper Beam burned the air around it. _"Impossible!"_ Then, like it was made of paper, the figure started to crumble away...

"_That can't have-!"_ He took a sharp breath. The blast cleared, and all Quentin could see was Ash, his arms guarding his face from the tidal wave of dust, Pikachu hiding behind his leg. The wind died down, and Ash lowered his arms to look at the remains of his Pokémon...

At least he should have, but that was not the face of someone looking at remains of a friend. Ash was grinning. Quentin then realized...

He'd been _tricked_. "NOW SCRAFTY!"

The trap was sprung. A glowing-red Scrafty burst from the ground beneath Nidoking, his red/white glowing fist aimed in an uppercut. "SCRAFTY!" -WHAM!- Like a rocket the fist collided with the underside of Nidoking's jaw.

Finally, the beast was knocked off his feet.

His form fell to the ground on his back as Scrafty only sailed higher, before he flipped in the air and came back down, his right foot glowing white. "SCRA!" His foot slammed into his target's face, before Scrafty removed it, pulling his head back as it started to glow blue, becoming brighter so the head beneath the glow appeared black and white...

"TY!" His head violently slammed into Nidoking's, making the latter's' bash briefly against the ground before-"TY!" Another, he quickly pulled his head back, and-"TY!" The onslaught of Outrage-infused Head Smashes continued to rain down upon Nidoking, who had neither the energy nor time to counter. The bashes began to quicken. "TY! TY! TY!" Scrafty pulled his head back further, his twin auras glowing even brighter before "SCRAFTY!" The strongest smash yet, so hard that the back of Nidoking's head was _indented_ into the arena. Scrafty took a few deep, heavy breaths before he slowly pulled himself off of Nidoking, who didn't react.

Nidoking was out cold.

Scrafty raised his head up, roaring out the first part of his name, rebounding the syllable off every single wall as his glow seemed to quiver for a moment, before fading. His eyes remained that crimson red, and suddenly he threw out a fist in a random direction, then a foot in another, continuously screaming out as if he was trying to attack something only he could see.

"Scra!" A high roundhouse kick to his right. "Ty!" He threw a head-butt in the same direction, briefly jumping. He landed turning around and swiping a fist at the same spot. "Ty!" He pulled his fist back. "Scra..." He suddenly stumbled. "Ty..." He threw it, but it seemed to lose his vigour somewhere on the way. "Scraf..." He pulled his head back. He threw it forward. "Ty..." He fell forward. It was a few seconds before it became clear.

He'd fainted.

Quentin raised a Pokéball "Return, Nidoking."

Ash did the same. "Return, Scrafty."

Quentin looked down at his withdrawn Pokémon, placing his other hand over the top of his ball. "You fought well, Nidoking." He swiftly returned the ball to his belt, placing the ball with the other four which lay there. A finger from his left hand trailed to the bottom button of his coat, unhooking it with a precise sway of his finger.

Ash looked down at his ball with a smile. "Great job, Scrafty." He reached his hand to his belt, returning one ball and finding another.

Just as Quentin chose his. _"He knew a direct battle was impossible to win. So he used Scrafty's condition as part of a diversion strategy. Clever, but costly. I can see why the champions couldn't stop him."_

Ash raised his Pokeball. "That was an awesome opening. Looks like I can match you, Quentin." He smiled. "Guess I'm a true Grandmaster after all."

Quentin frowned. "No, Ash. A true Grandmaster is defined by more than strength or skill."

Ash looked at Qunetin for a moment, as if he was trying to find something, before he just closed his eyes and shook his head. _"He doesn't understand."_

They cast their next Pokéballs.

"But I finally do."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of Chapter

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Author's Notes: And the first round is **over!** A glorified draw! (as far as I care. Either way both are down a Pokémon)

Didn't think I'd make Quentin a typical (but extremely strong) trainer now did you? Oh ye of little faith. I had to give him an edge. You don't get to be the Grandmaster without having something special up your sleeve and Quentin's method of blending attacks has yet to show off its full extent. Now can Ash's tenacity continue to keep pace with Quentin's skill? Or will he be overwhelmed?

The best is yet to come!

Next Chapter: The Hunger

(Yes I've decided to show the titles ahead of time, only for this arc though)

Trivia: I originally included Scraggy/Scrafty in Ash's team due to his unique typing. (I was trying to make Ash's team as diverse and interesting as possible) However, after watching a few episodes focusing around him I know I couldn't have chosen a more awesome Pokemon. As far as I'm aware he's not shown what his ability is in the anime, so I decided to just go with shed skin. (A diversion tactic just seemed more Ash to me. He has shown some subterfuge talents a few times)

A Pokémon that deals with someone having a crush on him by **head-butting** embodies epic. (not sure what kind of epic but epic is epic) Plus I think that might make him the one character in the entire Pokéverse stupider than his trainer. (Okay I'm probably pushing it there)

Now imagine if Ash dealt with everything the same way...

Episode one would be so interesting. Imagine, if you will, the outcomes of these segments

Gary: "I got my starter Pokémon already!"

Oak: "We're out of starter Pokémon Ash."

Pikachu: "Pi pika pikachu chu." _I'm not obeying you._

Misty: -slaps Ash-

Of course he'd be arrest by episode 2. I doubt Jenny would take kindly to being head-butted. Now imagine the trial...

**Contest:** Not as many competitors as I'd hoped for (rather disappointed actually), but just in case some of you are concerned; you **can** take a shot at this more than once, as long as you obey the rules (outlined a bit further down).

Now, I must clarify something.

The exact answer I am looking for **has not been written anywhere in this fic**. It's something you have to figure out from the hints I have left you, and the precise hints that will lead you to the answer **are** there.

Now, I may have been a too vague about the question, so let me clear some things up.

Since it seems to be obvious already I will say it; Yes, the answer does relate to Ash's Grandmaster title. I want a specific detail about **Ash** holding it.

The precise **detail** I want answered: the hint giving that away was first revealed in chapter 7. It's also been in another place since. It'd be no fun to just come out and **tell you** what I want now would it? This is where the hardcore fans are separated from the light readers. (not that this fic can be considered 'light reading')

As I said, the hints to that **answer** are laid out already. You're not getting any more.

**Rules!:**

First: **One attempt at answering per new chapter.** This way everyone gets a fair shot.

Second: To prevent cheating (eventually all of you are gonna figure out exactly what detail I'm asking for, and then the guessing game starts), I am adding one more condition to victory: I want you to explain your justification for your answer; how did **you** come up with it?

Thanks to Fortune Hunter for inspiring this rule. While I can't say if you're close or a million miles away from the true answer (and question itself for that matter, can't give it away), I really did enjoy the in-depth answer itself. I figure since I'm writing this fic, which seems to entertain the lot of you folks I think I'm entitled to a little bit of entertainment in return, and it turns out what people can interpret from my work entertains me greatly (I have an ego, and it requires feeding), so come on people!

Also, I highly doubt anyone could make a plausible lie for finding the true answer.

The more you do post your views the more/faster I write. Interest begets interest. Show it to my work, and I'll be more interested in writing it. Which also means this fic **gets finished faster**. I have pretty much the rest of the story completely laid out already. (with some blanks to fill in here and there) If you want it sooner rather than later, then motivate me!

The contest will remain open until the end of this battle, unless it's won before then of course. The winner (if there is one) will be announced in the top author's notes of a new chapter, so check every new chapter.

Good luck!

P.S: I lied. I am continuing to drop hints. One is in this chapter somewhere. All upcoming chapters will contain a hint.

**Meanwhile, in the real world**: Nintendo announced a new generation of Pokémon games! Looks like they finally ran out of colors.

You know, as much as I love the franchise (I'm writing a damn fic ain't I? Plus I have two others done.), it really, really is starting to take the piss on how long it's going on now. (Part of any great franchise is knowing when to stop before you get stale) Well we all know the routine of this generation in respects to the anime now don't we?

(Ash wont age...I still find that unforgivably illogical. It's one piece of the cannon I gladly wipe my ass with*)

Though I will say this for the new games: The graphic style looks awesome. As long as they don't change the mechanics of the game much other wise (the wild Pokémon encounter system cannot change!) then it should work out well.

Also: Nintendo's aiming to release the game worldwide within the span of a month. If they can pull that off then hat's off to Nintendo.

(I should probably buy a hat)

*Like it's the only cannon I've wiped my ass with. The mere existence of this fic is an affront to the cannon. Its low quality is just an insult to the franchise.


	12. The Hunger

Authors Notes: And here we are, chapter 12. (and who gives a crap?) May go back and rewrite chapter 11 someday. Wasn't as fast-paced as I would have liked. Plus I'd like some more intensity in it too. This chapter lacks those problems, at least for now. May change my mind later.

Seriously, I'm having trouble calibrating how much power Pokémon in this battle should display. Cursed animé, not having any consistency...(his one was **hard as hell** to write. Why do you think it took so long?) Writing Pokémon battles is clearly not one of my strong suites*

(*I assume I have at least one strong suite...probably incorrectly.)

It'd up and say "screw this whole thing" if...actually why do I bother with this anymore? Meh, another thing in my life that doesn't make much sense, now how long has that list gotten?

**Contest:** One new entry. (I think it was an entry anyway) **One!**

Seriously, why am I bothering? (can ask that about the fic itself actually)

If it was an entry (and this applies to everyone); I put in the rule "must have an account" for a reason, to discuss the prize, and so we end up with a name we're both satisfied with. (I am not giving a former Grandmaster a gag name) Also it's to help stop some prick stealing the real winner's thunder, and giving their own idea. So if you want in, make an account. You don't have to write anything to have an account you know, and you can keep track of your favourite stories updates via e-mail. (for some reason a bunch of people have favourited this one. Guess they like crap)

The attempt (if it was one) was not successful, but I'll clarify something: The answer is not one about Ash's _actions_ regarding the title. It's one small, highly specific detail about _Ash_ being the holder.

(Though I do appreciate the in-depth analysis in answers. I really do. It means somebody is actually _thinking_ about the story rather than just _reading it_. Means all the stuff I got coming up may not be a _total_ loss)

(An in-depth review seriously makes my day. I love it when my stuff is actually analysed.)

I'll drop a little help right now. (but no hint in chapter. That's the trade off)

The detail itself is not important to the plot of the story. So if you're looking for something obvious, you're looking in the wrong place. This particular detail I could have changed, and changed as much as I want and only cause the absolute minimal effect on the plot.

I advise all of you to look back in chapter 10 for the contest details, then re-read scenes specifically regarding the title carefully. The question I'm wanting answered might just pop out at you. The hint giving it away...well, it's a tiny detail.

And the hints to the answer...now where's the fun in just telling?

(yes, I'm a dick. You should know that by now.)

**IMPORTANT!**: Need a little help on something, details at the end of chapter! (after the author's notes and trivia) I didn't put "important" for nothing, seriously need help here!

**Last thing:** Chapter 2 has undergone a slight rewrite. (took me long enough) Still much the same, just toned down a little bit. It's something I intend to wrap up later in the story.

Soundtrack:

Avantasia: Devil in the Belfry

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Over a year ago..._

Ash drank slowly from his can, smiling to himself at the sight before him. Scraggy and Pikachu were busy entertaining themselves, by jumping up and down on Snorlax's belly. (After Scraggy determined he was asleep, no need to head-butt someone who was already unconscious)

Ash frowned, he'd have to send Snorlax back soon. _"But..."_ He watched as Scraggy and Pikachu made it a contest, each of them now easily making heights greater than a typical house. He was such a good addition to the team, in battle and out. He had to think, how hard was it to feed a Snorlax, really?

He thought back to certain days in the Orange Island and Johto...not easy. Snorlax had an incredible capacity to eat, and while he would go some time between feedings, he could still go through in a single sitting what would take some an entire year. He thought of his monetary resources, Ash had made it a point to compete in every tournament he could find, no matter how minor or large, and he was proud to say he had not lost in some time, his training was paying off. (in more ways than one) Even so, covering a Snorlax's food expenses would be a very trying task for his bank account. _"If only there was an easier way..."_

He blinked rapidly. Hang on, there was an easy way!

He'd need to call Professor Oak, and learn a little about making poffins.

He'd need a steady supply of that (nothing short of a) miracle recipe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Snorlax, I choose you!" Snorlax came forth, and not really being one for theatrics, he didn't strike a pose.

In fact, he was so laid back he didn't even emerge standing.

Or sitting for that matter...

His belly rose and fell gently. "Snorr..." Again. "Lax..." Now this put a damper on things. Ash's eyebrow twitched.

Quentin on the other hand would face no such problems. "Prepare for battle, Slowking."

Unlike the previous Pokémon, Slowking was not visibly different from the rest of its kind, though its attitude would be rather unnerving to most. (Ash didn't care enough to be unnerved) He simply stood there, paws clasped behind his back with a small smile on his face.

He yawned.

A sleeping Pokémon verses a lazy one. Now how would this turn out? Quentin addressed his Pokémon. "Slowking, do you want to fight this one yourself?"

Slowking took a moment to look at the _occupied_ Snorlax, blinking a few times as he raised a paw to his chin before he eventually returned it to his back, his face ripe with certainty. Then, with a calm and wise voice, Slowking decided to shock the hell out of Ash.

"No Quentin, I do no trust in my strategies alone."

Quentin smiled. "Are you finally going to admit I'm smarter than you?"

Slowking sighed and shook his head. "We both know that's not true."

It's was Quentin's turn to suffer an eyebrow twitch. "Oh that's it! Pi to fifty decimal places, come on let's see what you got!"

Snorlax's ear twitched.

Quentin and Slowking were quickly locked in a heated argument, all the while Ash was lightly scratching his head.

"Why are they talking about pie?"

Another ear twitched. "Snor...laxxx." Snorlax moved into a sitting up position, lightly scratching his large stomach, looking around, very quickly at that.

Ash's other eyebrow twitched. "You can have pie later, Snorlax!"

Quentin and Slowking suddenly stopped arguing, their thoughts mirrored. _"What's this about pie?"_

Understanding he was not being fed yet, Snorlax rose to his feet, yawning briefly before lightly scratching his belly. He was ready, though the untrained eye would think otherwise and charge forward.

They'd be crushed in short order.

Slowking's eyes were far from untrained, and he removed his arms from behind his back. Quentin did nothing, almost as a statue, his eyes gazing across at Ash, nearly frozen.

Ash's eyes were burning, like the heart of blaze. They were daring, calling, _demanding_ for this battle to continue. The fire burned in his eyes.

The fire burned in his _soul_.

From Ash's feet, Pikachu looked up, the seeds of fear in his eyes.

Ash's cut had stopped bleeding, leaving wet red streams seemingly etched onto his face. Yet it wasn't the cut which chilled him, it was Ash himself. Pikachu had seen Ash bored in a battle. He'd seen him disappointed. He'd seen him enraged after a complete farce of a fight. He'd never seen Ash like _this. _He'd prefer almost anything else to _this_. It was that look in his eyes. That wild, hungry look. Like a Houndoom before his prey.

Nothing would stop him from eating his fill.

Ash took a good look at the arena around. The battleground itself had multiple areas with considerable cracks. There was a considerable dent in one area, with a hole inside it shaped like the back of the head of a certain Shiny Poison-Pin Pokémon, and an entire layer seemed to have been blasted away by Scrafty's repeated Dark Pulses. Ash looked beyond the arena, and the walls had suffered too. The barrage of stone edge bullets had left a pattern of cracks, all connected to various holes like some kind of pattern. Through the holes and cracks light shone. Ash gave one the entire area inside the peak a once over, taking in the walls and the main arena one more time.

He doubted it would make it through this battle.

He smiled.

Like _that_ would stop him.

Snorlax was awake, Slowking was ready, he and Quentin were itching to go...

What the hell was he waiting for again? "Snorlax! Ice punch!"

With extremely deceptive speed, Snorlax rushed forward, clenching his fist, which quickly glowed blue.

Quentin acted fast. "Slowking, use the water below to shroud him." Snorlax raised suddenly glowing paws, their blue aura joined quickly by the sound of water. A mass of it rose behind him, it too shrouded in the glow. It launched forward, passing Snorlax's fist and shrouding him. "Freeze him." The water on Snorlax's forearm suddenly sprouted a sharp-toothed maw, and the water clasped his fist. It froze, first around his fist, then it passed upwards. Up his arm, and with a shocked face he realized it was headed for his body. It was too late, in seconds an ice sculpture was all that remained. Within it was contained a shocked Snorlax.

Slowking didn't seem pleased. "He'll get out of that soon."

"So we'll have something ready. Get ready to stone him."

Quentin was met with a sigh. "So uncivilized." He closed his eyes and raised his paws, the tips of them glowing blue. He raised his arms.

Ash knew something was coming. "Snorlax, break out!" The surface of the prison cracked.

So did the walls of the arena, what started as just lines began to break further, freeing various chunks of rocks of various sizes from all over the wall, letting in more and more light. Ash paid it no attention, instead focused on the rubble rising from the arena before him.

Snorlax's prison continued to crack...

Slowking's paws moved gracefully though the air, now he represented an object in space, surrounded by debris, suspended in nothingness, save for the glow which surrounded every chunk.

The ice shattered, Snorlax emerged. He stood, seemingly unaffected by his brief imprisonment, and that's all Ash needed. "Get him!"

He charged.

"Keep him at bay, Slowking."

The debris flew forward.

He ducked, he jumped, he dived. With extremely deceptive grace and speed, Snorlax moved through the storm of various sized shards of stone, sometimes scarcely missing one, other times easily evading. Truly Snorlax, even with his size, could evade getting hit if he wanted to.

However..._"Gotta get closer!"_

Slowking had not moved from his position, and he didn't need to. Snorlax, through adapt at evading, couldn't get closer. Slowking's eyes were closed, his hands guiding the rhythm of stones like a conductor of a symphony. Suddenly he cast his left arm to his side...

An opening. "There, Snorlax!" Snorlax jumped forward, punching away two large slates with each of his hands. He'd gotten closer.

Slwoking's arm bent.

"Snorlax, try Heavy Slam!" There was a flash, and Snorlax was shrouded in a golden aura. He slammed a foot into the ground, rushing forward faster than before.

"Now Slowking!" Quentin roared. Slowking's arm briefly shot down.

Slowking's arm short forward.

The largest shard yet had suddenly shot down from the air, and it was headed right for Snorlax.

"Snorlax, Mega Punch!" The yellow glow suddenly vanished. Snorlax pulled back his arm, before a glowing fist flew forward. The shard was hit. It shattered, its pieces shooting past Snorlax like storm of stone.

A chunk headed for what was right behind him.

"Pikapi!"

Ash merely blinked in the instant there was to react. The already weakened shard smashed on collision with Ash's jaw, its pieces falling harmlessly to the ground below. Ash didn't react, he just kept gazing before him. This was just the taste of battle. Nothing more, nothing less.

He blinked, his expression suddenly confused.

The battle tasted like..._blood._

He felt something warm leak from his mouth, and his hand instinctively moved to catch it as it fell from his face. He glanced down at his gloved hand.

Oh. It _was_ blood. _Interesting..._

His blood tasted just like battle. He smiled.

_Delicious._

He raised his hand, wiping his mouth. He gulped down liquid in his mouth, before grinning, new trails sneaking out of the sides of his mouth. Now _this_ was it. This was the truest essence of a battle. Cameras didn't cut it. Memories didn't cut it. Mere _descriptions_ couldn't possible cut it! A battle was a meal that had to be eaten _alive_!

_And he was __**hungry**__!_

"More!"

More he would have. Before him Snorlax was once again attempting to get close. Side-stepping some shards, crushing others underfoot, punching others, at least the ones he could get to. Slowking's mind was quick on the uptake, and he too was now playing this game of evasion. Snorlax threw a punch at a shard roughly the size of his own fist, only for that shard to shoot past his hand and hit his face.

He was knocked a step back, another shard making its way underfoot. He tripped, and gave the arena a few cracks for its collection.

Quentin's stern voice rebounded from every wall. "Molten Tomb." Slowking opened his mouth, as wide as it would go, as before him a pile of his rocks took formation.

Then there was fire. A geyser of it burst from Slowking's mouth, blasting into the stone funnel-like construct that formed before him. The stones quickly started to glow with the heat, and soon a drop of something that definitely wasn't water slipped out.

"Snorlax! Move!" Snorlax flipped to his feet, then was forced to duck another chunk of stone. "You have to stop Slowking! Get close!"

"Keep him at bay, Slowking."

Though his eyes were closed, his mouth still kept unleashing that stream of fire, Slowking's arms moved. Snorlax was quickly fighting the storm once again. He ducked a boulder, throwing his arm out at a second. He stopped it, before it was joined by more large rocks, pushing with such force that the heavy Pokémon skidded across the ground just slightly.

Quentin looked up into the construct, which had started to glow with a red hue, dripping more and more onto the ground below. "Get him in position, Slowking!" The king's paws were moving...

"Snorlax, keep moving!"

Snorlax leapt, back-flipping through the air with impossible grace. He landed, skidding across the arena as around him the hoard of stone tried to form a ring. Snorlax looked in all directions, looking for an opening.

Ash was looking at the stones, one by one, and his eyes fell upon the one directly between Snorlax and Slowking. It was almost as tall as Snorlax, and a little wider..."Snorlax, push the one in front of you at Slowking and shatter it with Mega Punch!"

Snorlax, not quite getting the plan, but understanding the command, rushed forward. Snorlax slammed his shoulder into the shard, and both he and it were sailing through the air. The blue glow around it quickly vanished, and still not quite on the ground, Snorlax pulled back his fist, made it glow white with power and slammed it into his target.

It shattered like glass, and the glass became like rain, and that rain shot towards Slowking. "Stop them, Slowking!"

Ash grinned, just has he planned..."Get him with Thunderpunch!" Snorlax's fist sparked into life. The would-be ring of stones around him fell to the ground, and Slowking's paws were raised as his mouth closed, he grunted, and the air around the Slowpoke evolution seemed to pulse with an unseen energy.

Every stone stopped, but it was not over. Like a storm, Snorlax ripped through whatever shard he met. Slowking growled, opening his mouth in a roar as he thrust his paws forward.

Snorlax slammed to a halt.

As if he'd ran into an invisible wall, Snorlax's pudgy form was slightly flattened against an invisible surface. He grunted as the invisible wall pushed back, scraping his feet across the ground slowly, inch by inch. "Don't let him push you around, Snorlax! Push back!"

Snorlax's feet dug firmly into the ground, halting his movement, and with new determination on his face he forced himself to move.

He made a step forward. Slowking growled again. He was pushed half a step back.

Snorlax cracked the ground beneath, growling as he forced himself another step forward. Then another, and another. Slowly, very slowly, but he was getting closer, and nothing was stopping him. He cracked the ground with another hard step, his normally gentle face twisted into an expression that spoke louder than just words. _I'm coming for you._

The edges of Slowking's mouth sparked with flame, and his jaw opened just slightly..."Use force wisely, Slowking!" He closed his mouth, briefly looking back at Quentin. He couldn't read much from his stern expression, but his words...

Snorlax pushed another step, and another faster than before. Like a slow walk he advanced now, the invisible wall before him becoming less and less able to slow him down. Snorlax reached the halfway point of the arena.

Slowking smiled.

Ash quickly realized. "Snorlax, look out!"

With a roar another pulse of energy burst from Slowking, and Snorlax was knocked off balance.

It was too late, Snorlax gazed up into the falling light...

The construct slammed atop him, and as if grasped by an invisible hand, clasped tighter around him. "Don't let him out, Slowking." The remaining shards around the arena rose up again and slammed into the 'tomb', and a new stream of fire came from Slowking, the psychic grip keeping everything well in place.

Ash needed an idea, fast. "Snorlax!" Then, as if by some divine revelation, an idea hit him. "Snorlax use Protect!" From within the tomb a green glow was suddenly born, and the surface of the tomb was expanded slightly. "Now push it outwards!"

"Snor-!" The light became brighter. "LAXXX!" The 'tomb' cracked, slightly parted-

It shattered. Like melted glass the structure broke into glowing pieces, and the molten rock fell onto the ground, still emanating that dangerous glow.

Snorlax stood in the middle of the now fading sphere to energy, his arms reaching his sides as they faded.

He was free.

Slowking took a step back. "W-what power!" Snorlax actually smiled. If there was one thing he had plenty of, it was power. Slowking let his shock pass, taking a firm stand once more. He wasn't about to give up.

Four stood for a moment, each plotting, planning, considering their next move. Pikachu was reminded of a pair of Herdiers they had seen a long time ago, fighting over territory. They'd savagely bare into one another, save for the brief moments where they circled, considering their next method of attack. Ash's face very much reminded Pikachu of them at this moment, except instead of anger there was hunger. He wanted to make the next attack, but wanted to pick the right way, the _most satisfying way._

Unlike that time, Pikachu could not interfere.

"Back when I reigned..." Ash quickly turned his attention to Quentin, who had his gaze turned towards the sky. "I was always watching, always waiting, always seeking one who would rise up to truly challenge me." He frowned. "In time I came to realize, that even you, the one I knew would rise up..." He turned his gaze from the sky, looking to his opponent with a lack of interest. "Even you are too weak. Your tenacity seized you a draw against Nidoking, but when it comes to force against force, fighting you is a fools game. No matter how much force you're met with, you'll find a way to strike it down. When it comes to using your head you're not too hard to dispatch." He finally gazed upon Ash, his gaze able to chill all but its target to the bone. "I'll take my time then, in breaking you. I can make you an example, _the_ example. Your defeat will ensure no more false Grandmasters rise up."

Ash's eyes hardened. "So you think I can't use my head, huh?" He smiled. "Just you wait."

"We'll see, _boy_."

Ash held his tongue, he wasn't rising to that. He'd show Quentin, one way or another. He'd like to whip out something original, but alas, Snorlax's vast size was contrasted by his intellect. Working on an original move with Snorlax simply proved impossible, for now at least. Maybe in some distant future he'd have better luck, but as it was he'd have nothing original to pull out of his hat. Luckily, Ash was nothing if not able to think on his feet.

He would not let this _relic_ get under his skin.

Slowking lightly grazed a paw over his arm, smiling softly to himself. "Rash one, isn't he? Quentin you must weep for this generation of trainers, if this is the best one they can produce."

Now _that_ did it. "Snorlax!"

Slowking smiled. "I'll handle it from here, Quentin." His glowing paws were dancing.

"Keep on guard, Snorlax!"

Snorlax blocked a shard with his forearm, pushing it back as he jumped away. Slowking's mouth opened again, and several rainbow-colored blasts Ash recognized as Signal Beams emerged in sequence. Snorlax evaded the three of them, reaching the wall behind Ash. Neither he nor Pikachu reacted, even as it became to crack, shards falling down. Snorlax slammed into another shard, pushing it away with the force of his belly. Ash clenched a fist. This fight was getting annoying, he wanted the two fighting _directly_! What the hell was-

Ash caught sight of the rock that had become molten, only now it had formed together, becoming like some kind of serpent. "Snorlax, look out!"

Snorlax saw it. The blow-red glowing serpent set to strike. "Flip over it!" Snorlax flipped backwards, gazing at the molten serpent as it reached just under him. "Cool it with Ice Punch!"

Snorlax's freezing fist glided across the burning rock, and the rock's red glow quickly faded, a brief emission of what appeared to be steam coming from it. Snorlax landed on his feet, before kicking off from the ground again. He took to the air, rising to heights like a leaf upon a breeze. He looked down as Ash gazed up.

The barrage was rising to follow him.

"Snorlax!" Ash shouted. "Mega Punch and Mega Kick! Destroy every single one!" Snorlax fell through the air, and with speed most couldn't hope to follow he started striking.

His fist found stone. His foot. Another foot. Another fist. Each time he felt them break, felt them _shatter_. Like glass they gave under the force of his blows. Nothing would survive if it dared to get between him and the ground.

In the end nothing could. He landed, cracking the stone beneath him, as all around him countless small stones fell. Ash's face was a reflection of his eyes, hardened, and a touch of impatient. "I'm no genius, but I ain't stupid. I took the Champions down, so don't underestimate me."

Quentin's smirked. "Defeating the Champions does not a Grandmaster make. I'll estimate you only as high as you demonstrate."

Ash actually smiled at that. "Then I better reach higher."

"Do so then, boy."

Ash's smile slowly faded. _"I gotta knock Slowking off balance. As long as he can keep in one place Snorlax can't get him."_ He looked for a moment, a fraction of another...

He smiled. "Toxic!" Snorlax's mouth quivered, and suddenly he appeared sick. He opened his mouth, and did something no Snorlax was _ever_ meant to do.

He regurgitated something. A blob of violet shot out, its mass large enough to cover its target in something that truly earned its name.

"Disperse it with Water Pulse, Slowking." Slowking's maw opened, and a sphere of clear water grew inside. It shot off like a cannon, breaking through the toxic and continuing onwards.

Ash's mind played back a brief moment earlier in the match ..."Fire Punch!" Snorlax's right hand ignited, before clenching into a fist. His face morphed into determination, and with all his power he slammed his fist into the oncoming sphere.

Like Nidoking's steam bomb, the result was a shroud which covered all it found, covering and rising high above Snorlax. Above Slowking a cloud of steam quickly formed, obscuring what was above. "Slowking, blow it away!"

Slowking waved a glowing hand, and the steam quickly started to part, and everything could be seen. They could see what was high above.

From the height came a shape, a shape falling. "Told you I'd reach higher! Heavy Slam!"

Quentin didn't even wait a second before-"Psychic." Slowking raised his arms, roaring in effort as Snorlax quickly started to glow, his decent only slowing slightly. Slowking fell to a knee, still pushing back with all of his force. Snorlax slowed again, then again, now he was falling as if in slow motion, and with one final roar Slowking forced himself to his feet, triumph lining his strained expression.

Snorlax was held in place. Helpless.

So it would seem. "Snorlax, Hyper Beam!" Snorlax opened his mouth, charging and releasing in little more than an instant. All Slowking saw was light. Light which enveloped him and exploded.

"Slowking!" Quentin was quickly forced to use his arm as a shield from the storm of dust. Snorlax on the other hand was sailing higher and higher, the force of his own beam blasting him up into the air.

The beam stopped coming, his mouth closed.

He started falling.

Ash smiled savagely. "Giga Impact!"

Snorlax continued to fall, even faster than before as he shrouded in what could be mistaken for a violet and orange fire.

Quentin gasped. _"How?"_ He turned to the pillar of smoke that was the remnants of the Hyper Beam. "Slowking!" Snorlax sailed right into the smoke, casting it away in an instant as he slammed into the ground, the last of the smoke sneaking away. The ground gave way, like a mattress of earth Snorlax's weight crushed into it, quickly burying himself in the ground. The ground around his landing cracked. "Slowking!"

Quentin's shout was partly drowned out by the sound of breaking stone, which from Snorlax's landing spread across the arena. Ash felt it underfoot, the feeling that at least in parts, the cracks went deep.

_How long would this battleground survive?_

The center of this array of destruction was currently unmoving, not that he really needed to move. Under a thousand pounds of pure Pokemon, there was only one outcome a creature of Slowking's stature could have met. Quentin could only look, and not much else. "Damn."

Ash smiled, sadly. "He fell too soon."

-crack-

"Hmm?"

"Huh?"

"Pi?"

All eyes (save for Snorlax's) turned to a suddenly forming crack in the arena. The crack rose slightly, like something was trying to-

Slowking burst forth, extremely worse for wear, and panting, but very much among the concious. Quentin was too stunned to do almost anything but blink. "How?"

Slowking smiled. "I read your mind, Quentin. It worked for that Scrafty."

Quentin gave an annoyed sigh. "Stay out of my head." He smiled, with a faint air of nostalgia before he turned his attention to Ash, nostalgia gone "How could your Snorlax use Giga Impact right after a Hyper Beam?"

Ash just shrugged. "Snorlax eats a lot. Gotta use that fuel for something."

"I see." Quentin frowned, his eyes once more upon Snorlax, who hadn't yet extracted himself, though Quentin knew it was not for the lack of ability to continue. _"He's far too sturdy to draw this out. This will need a gamble."_

"_**I understand, Quentin."**_

"_I said stay out of my head!"_ His eyes briefly gazed at the-"Slowking! The water! You know what to do!"

Slowking didn't need to read Quentin's mind for the meaning of that command. He raised both his paws, his eyes closed in intense concentration as an invisible force pulsed through the air.

A force felt by all. Snorlax! Move!" Snorlax raised an arm. Then a second, then he was upon his feet. He took a deep breath, and a slow step forward. _"He used up too much power, he can't go all out yet!"_ That couldn't be helped. "Snorlax, attack! He's too focused on the water!"

Slorlax charged, his method undecided, but motive clear.

"Slowking, keep him back with Protect!" Now it was Slowking's turn to generate a barrier, his eyes glowing blue as Snorlax approached.

"Beat it down with Mega Punch!" In a heartbeat Snorlax's fist slammed into Slowking's defence. The barrier briefly flashed under the force of the punch. "Again!" Another punch, the same result. "Don't stop punching!"

The rain of punches came down, each smashing against the barrier, which would sometimes briefly crack, only to be restored with Slowking's efforts. Only now did Ash realize Snorlax's arsenal was lacking in moves meant on dealing with Psychic and Water type Pokémon. So he was forced to rely on force, he'd learned a long time ago that ultimately, no defence was impenetrable, even the likes of which generated by Protect. He watched the barrage of punches come down, Snorlax could keep up this storm of punches longer than most could guess, but at this rate by the time he broke through he'd be exhausted, and Ash didn't have any moves on hand with the kind of power needed to break through in a single hit...

Though there was _that_, but it was risky. Then again, what was battle without a little risk?

"Snorlax! Metronome!"

Snorlax ceased the barrage of punches, pulling his form back and raising a hand, his index finger glowing white as he wiggled it back and forth.

It stopped. It was time for Snorlax's gamble to show its results. Snorlax's legs parted slightly, his body arcing, it was as if-

The ground cracked as Snorlax jumped, his form rising far higher than one would expect.

Then what was beyond possible.

Then beyond even belief.

Snorlax rose high above the arena, then beyond the tip of the peak, and into the sky itself.

Ash blinked. "W-wha-?" What kind of attack was that? For an instant there was nothing but silence, and all wondered where Snorlax had gone to.

They didn't wonder long.

He reappeared, falling through the sky, seemingly shrouded in white fire.

Quentin pieced it together. _"Sky Attack! That'll destroy the-!"_ He had seconds..."Slowking, Substitute!"

The barrier fell, and Slowking closed his eyes. His form seemed to be become distorted for a second, as if it was being moved very slightly, yet extremely fast.

It stopped, and from Slowking's body another Slowking suddenly shot forward, leaving his other self to his fate. Snorlax slammed into its target, and as Ash saw something come out from the resulting smoke he understood what had happened.

Slowking skidded across the arena as he landed, throwing both his arms into the air as he grunted. The smoke quickly passed, and Snorlax was revealed to already be back upon his feet.

Ash wasn't waiting. "Snorla-!"

His words were stolen from his tongue.

He was briefly awed, as around him all the water was rising. Glowing tendrils of it were shooting out, all headed above, all the while its source was getting shallower and shallower, showing stone, more stone. Something white and blue. Ash's turned to it before he could think, and gasped.

There it was, the collar clutching to a rock. Yet all he could see was what was hidden inside. He could see exactly where it was, could feel _it looking at him_.

He flinched, but he didn't look away.

"Pikapi."

His breathing grew in pace, he could not turn. He could not remove his vision from _it._

Only a second voice could break through.

"It's ready, Quentin."

Ash slowly turned away. "What the-?"

There it was, above the arena, high above Slowking. A construct of water, turning like a whirlpool, two whirlpools, one somehow feeding momentum into the other. It was immense, even a creature of Snorlax's size backed away.

_What was that thing?_

Quentin smiled. "Vortex Hammer."

Slowking moved his body, as if holding the hammer himself as his entire body glowed. The hammer moved, facing upwards as if held by an invisible hand.

Slowking made a sudden move, as if he was striking a hammer down...

The hammer came down.

Snorlax was hidden from sight completely by the torrential hammer as it broke upon him. The river burst, flowing in absolutely every direction at it came down, and the force of the wave could felt everywhere, even where the water had not yet reached. The water went in every direction, eventually reaching the sides of the arena and passing downwards.

Ash's eyes quickly turned, finding a certain spot. The water was approaching fast, and quickly it surrounded the object of his attention. First the bottom was swept under. Then it touched the arms. Inch by inch, it was slowly being taken by the water once more. It was reaching the collar-it was gone.

Ash turned away.

The hammer's form had broken completely, and the parting water quickly revealed Snorlax. Ash found him face down, unmoving as the water flowed around him, some of it seeping into various cracks as the last of it quickly approached the edges of the arena, but even the flow was finally finished the floor of the arena was still covered in a thin layer of still water. Snorlax remained, face down, the only signs of life being his breathing.

Snorlax _never_ slept on his stomach. Ash raised a Pokéball. "Return."

With a beam of red light, he did. "Good battle, Snorlax." With that, Ash was down his second Pokémon. He was considering his second when a voice broke though his thoughts.

"Why the hesitation, boy?"

Ash threw him a scathing look. "I'm not hesitating."

Quentin gave a disbelieving smile. "Lie to me if you want, but lying to yourself is entirely different thing, isn't it?" His smile darkened, casting a shadow across his face. "What's in that jacket that scares you I wonder?"

Ash removed a ball from his belt with a vicious pull. "Nothing scares me! Sceptile, I choose you!"

Sceptile emerged as was normal, serious and ready to fight, not even chewing on the twig he insisted on keeping in his mouth. He took a look before him, identifying his opponent.

Quentin's eyes turned to his Pokémon. "Slowking, do you still want to fight?" Slowking only nodded. "Very well. But you are at a disadvantage, remember that."

"I'll still fight."

He nodded. "Then let's continue."

Sceptile took his position on the battlefield, his blades sharp and at the ready, his eyes targeting his adversary with unrelenting will.

Slowking took a breath, and took a firm stance, a tad more serious than when he'd first emerged from his Pokéball.

Ash was just as impatient as ever. "Sceptile, get him!" Sceptile charged forward, with seemingly no thought, no plan, just rushing directly into the line of fire.

Fire, or something just as unpleasant. "Toxic!" Slowking's mouth opened again, and a stream of what accurately be called "ick" shot forth like a water gun, its target right in its sights.

Or so it would have seemed. "Agility!" Sceptile sidestepped the attack with a jump, and with blinding speed began closing the distance even faster than before.

Slowking gasped. _"Too fast!"_

"Sceptile, Leaf Blade!"

Quentin had to think fast. "Substitute!" Once more, for an instant, Slowking's form was distorted, before the original was once again shot away, leaving the duplicate to take the blow. The blade cut its target, which was split in half, the pieces simply fading away. Sceptile's back was to Slowking, and for just an instant off guard.

"Ice Beam!" Slowking's mouth fell open, already glowing with a familiar blue. It took form, growing and growing before-!

It fizzled to nothing. Quentin could guess why, so could Slowking. _"Damn."_

Ash frowned. "Leaf Blade."

Quentin closed his eyes. It was too late.

Sceptile jumped, turning in midair and raising his arm, as if he were holding a sword, instead of actually wearing it.

"Scep-!" The blade came down. "Tile!" The blade struck the jewel, and Slowking's weight gave out from under him. It was his turn to be face down. Sceptile flipped his body, slamming a second blade into Slowking's back. There was no cry. Sceptile frowned, he didn't like attacking the defenceless. He removed himself from his foe, reaching down to flip Slowking over. He nodded to himself.

He walked away. Quickly Slowking was glowing red before he was swept from the battlefield.

Quentin looked down at the Pokéball. "I told you were at a disadvantage. You used up nearly all your energy against Snorlax." He lightly shook his head, smiling. "Good job, Slowking." Quentin's left hand unhooked another button. Silently, he returned his current, then reached for another Pokéball. He cast it.

"Prepare for battle, Scizor."

It emerged with its eyes closed, claws crossed across his chest. It's claws opened and closed with a quick 'clap' before it finally took a look upon the world. It's eyes, both those upon its head and the 'eyes' on its claws seemed somehow sharper, more fierce. Scizor slowly lowered its claws, taking a still, strong stance. He was as serious as the opponent he was about to face.

Ash wiped another trail of blood from the side of his mouth, still holding that savage grin. He'd not merely been hungry for a good battle, no. A mere hunger could so easily be abated.

He'd been _starving_.

This battle was his feast, and he would devour, gorge himself upon it. He would choke down every strike, relish every wound, savour every clash, bite into every attack, drink every moment of this struggle. He would dine heartily upon this battle. Until there was nothing more to consume.

It was time for the next course. Both were eager, both opened their mouths at the same time. "Attack!"

"It's what we do."

Their Pokémon charged.

"Leaf Blade!"

"Metal Claw!"

They pulled back their respective limbs. Sceptiles blades were quickly made to glow, a neon green leaving a brief streak of green in the air behind them.

Scizor's claws briefly glowed, before the glow faded, leaving now a metallic grey.

Sceptile's feet, quick, nimble, and graceful, left only ripples across the surface of the arena.

Scizor didn't even touch the water, his form gliding through the air, the water below him parting slightly in his wake.

They closed in.

They jumped.

They launched their attacks.

"Tile!"

"Zor!"

Blade met Claw.

Grass met Steel.

Green met Grey.

The ground beneath them rippled, spreading beyond their reflections cast in the water. Spreading over the face of the arena itself.

"It's what we are."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of Chapter

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Next Time: Days of Glory

Author's Notes: Yes, I am going somewhere with the underlined text. It ain't just for show/effect lost on all but me. (now lets see if I can actually remember where that was...)

There's round two nailed down. (My fic, I'm **allowed** to make crappy puns) In case you haven't guessed, each round has its own chapter. I warned you it was going to be a long battle, and you all know how long I like to make things.

Current word count for the entire fic: 95,000+ words (though I bet the author's notes count for at least a few thousand. I'm still guessing the story itself is 90,000+)

Here's a little something for you to chew on: I'm guessing by the end the fic will be 250,000+ words. (not counting author's notes) Figure out how many chapters that'll likely be if you can. (I actually have a chapter plan laid out, the story is practically fully planned, plot and all)

Now remember my update rate...annnnnd you've just given up on this fic! Does this mean I don't have to finish this anymore? Because I think the Pokémon fanfiction section has enough crap as it is. I'm currently polluting the Toradora section, so if I can devote all my writing time to that I should be able to get its amount of crap up to traditional fanfiction standards (minimum of a thousand crappy fics) before too long.

Soooo, can I stop?

About the chapter itself.

Before anyone asks, no, none of the text of this chapter was not inspired by Cilan. I hadn't watched any episodes with him until long after this chapter had been conceived. So the similarities are coincidental.

Though on a related topic, given how he talks about Pokémon almost like they're types of wine (Pokémon **connoisseur**, people!), I have no shame in admitting all my responses to his dialogue would have to involve a crowbar.

And that's me being polite.

(Actually, screw the "involve", the crowbar does the job on its own)

Brock's removal from the franchise has gotta be the biggest blunder ever. They traded out a fun-loving womaniser (it was the one gag that was **never**, **ever** going to get old, a rare quality in gags in general), and replaced him with a-!

with a-!

Dammit! I'm too pissed to come up with a witty finisher! Pretend I put one in!

Trivia ("Fucking hell there's **more?!**"): I seriously had some second thoughts about Snorlax being on Ash's team. When making Ash's team I wanted to comprise it with Pokémon native to each region originally (and his best, naturally), to have one Pokémon for each portion of Ash's journey (the orange island wasn't intended to be included, it's a filler region for crying out loud), but none of Ash's Sinnoh-native Pokémon really stood out, when compared with Pokémon of the same type from other Regions.

Totodile/Feraligatr won over Buizel because of the dancing. I defy **anyone** who tells me dance fighting isn't pure badass. (Remember the crowbar!)

Torterra seems strong, but Sceptile wins hands down.

Infernape's impressive, but for me Charizard wins it, call it nostalgia, and he represents a certain something I can't ignore. (I'll explain it in his chapter: coming 2014!)

As for the rest...

Gible seemed a meh idea. Cynthia has a Garchomp, so for me that would have cheapened Gible being on his team. Staraptor is just Sinnoh's version of Pigeot so that was out. (same reason I never considered Swellow either) Unfortunately, I wasn't knowledgeable of the DP series to be fully aware of a very logical choice (plus the bulbapedia article had it a bit out of the way): Gliscor. (he's close enough to a Sinnoh-native, even if his pre-evolution isn't)

I seriously considered rewriting the fic slightly (or at least putting it to a vote), and swapping Snorlax out for Gliscor. Then I checked out Snorlax a bit. While it is true I lost the symmetry I wanted to form (my mind just sees it a symmetry), Snorlax is without a doubt the better choice.

To put it simply: Snorlax has **never** been beaten in a one-on-one fight.* (that I'm aware of, correct me if I'm wrong) It's always taken at least one opponent beforehand (sometimes even two) to wear him down before he's beaten. Meanwhile, Gliscor's record...not as impressive. Plus Snorlax is just more fun. I took the liberty of watching "Ring Masters" recently: hilarious. Snorlax is the ultimate in gifted fighters. He ain't smart, ain't serious, lazier than, well, me (slightly), but he'll crush you (in more ways than one), especially if there's food involved.

(I also originally viewed Snorlax as a little too similar to Scrafty, which was a second reason to question his inclusion. Given the use physical combat a lot by the both of them, but their different body types and thus the difference that makes in their styles make it an acceptable level of likeliness)

*Yes I had Snorlax lose. It's called **drama**, people! You know, that thing I promised!

**HELP!**

(give yourself a frigging medal if you actually read this far. I'm not kidding, you deserve a medal.)

One theme in the series which I've noticed, and hope to use (have already used somewhat) is objects binding Ash to others.

Object examples:

Ash and Misty: Lure and Handkerchief. (obviously)  
Ash and Brock: The lunch box and cutlery set.

Ash and May: The ribbon halves.

**Now I need to know:** Do Ash and Dawn have anything like that? If they do I need to know, ASAP! (Pearlshippers will know this one...so no-one reading this fic.)

I doubt Ash and Max would have one, but if they do, let me know!

PM me if you know the answer. (or just dump it in a review if you can't be assed making an account) Reference your answer please. (I wanna know the ep it shows up in)


End file.
